NY Times: How California's high speed
rail project became a 'loser'
Hot Air,
by
John Sexton
Original Article
Posted By: Dreadnought,
10/10/2022 11:57:23 PM
The very short answer, as revealed in this story published yesterday by the NY Times, is politics. The attempt to build the first bullet train in the US between San Francisco and Los Angeles almost immediately turned into a boondoggle thanks to decisions that made no sense in terms of efficiency or ridership but only in terms of satisfying powerful politicians.
The design for the nation’s most ambitious infrastructure project was never based on the easiest or most direct route. Instead, the train’s path out of Los Angeles was diverted across a second mountain range to the rapidly growing suburbs of the Mojave Desert
Reply 1 - Posted by:
formerNYer 10/11/2022 12:09:54 AM (No. 1301047)
Although the NY Slimes article is only excerpts they probably missed a very obvious problem, this project was conceived, designed and executed by left-wing crazies that couldn't find their own @ss with a map and a search warrant.
20 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Axeman 10/11/2022 12:11:57 AM (No. 1301048)
How could it not? Seriously! It was destined from the beginning to be a huge, growing boondoggle. It was the job of the planners to make something useful out of the idiotic idea, in some way, just a little benefit, anything.
Not just failure upon loss upon waste upon corruption.
Anyone remember the billions spent on stem cell research? Hows that working out?
12 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
Tet Vet 68 10/11/2022 12:22:29 AM (No. 1301052)
I lived in CA when this boondoggle was passed on the ballot by stupid CA voters. They voted yes without giving it so much as a thought. I knew it was a loser then and now many years later the single party Democrat state has succeeded in waisting billions to produce no discernible result except debt for California
17 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
skacmar 10/11/2022 12:48:04 AM (No. 1301063)
It did not become a loser. It always was a losing prospect. The project was just a money grab. California should be required to pay all of the money back for the non existent train.
18 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
billsv 10/11/2022 1:04:45 AM (No. 1301065)
“Became a loser” ? It was a loser at the conception of the idea. Never not a loser. CA would have been better off building more water reservoirs as well as maintaining the existing ones. Also, building more nuclear power plants.
19 people like this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
GoodDeal 10/11/2022 1:20:54 AM (No. 1301067)
I’m sure the insider politician that knew where the rail line would go went and bought up as much land in the route as possible before it became known.
11 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
doctorfixit 10/11/2022 1:36:26 AM (No. 1301068)
California's public works bureaucracy is the word's worst.
California construction companies are incapable of building to the close tolerances required for high speed rail. They rely heavily on illiterate, untrained illegal alien labor.
California roads are the nation's worst in terms of drivability, ride quality, durability, longevity.
The first time they try to run a train at 100 mph it will fly off the track - with any luck into nearby fields.
7 people like this.
All of the democrat madness is about removing wealth from individuals.
6 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
EVRgreen4058 10/11/2022 8:09:01 AM (No. 1301166)
I'm old enough to remember when Florida's governor dared to turn down the High Speed rail $$$$ available during Obama's reign. Liberals went nuts complaining as it seemed like such a wonderful gift. Fortunately wiser minds prevailed as it eventually would have cost Florida's taxpayers millions to finish it and then maintain it. We had to give this "gift" to another state that wanted it - probably CA and it's going exactly as our wise Governor Scott predicted. Just a gigantic slush fund for liberal grifters to profit from.
6 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
zephyrgirl 10/11/2022 8:26:02 AM (No. 1301184)
High-speed rail between two cities only works with the two cities have a robust public transportation system like you find between NYC and Boston, NYC and DC, and so on. Otherwise, the train dumps you in a city and you have no way of getting around because you don't have a car.
6 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
hershey 10/11/2022 8:30:39 AM (No. 1301191)
Always wondered how they planned on crossing the San Andreas fault line....watched a video the other day about Japan's Bullet train...super neat job they did...
4 people like this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
lakerman1 10/11/2022 9:01:50 AM (No. 1301216)
Barack Obola threw biillions of our tax dollars at the development of a high speed rail system, and it has gone nowhere, as far as I can tell. But the money was spent, again, as far as I know
A special terminal for the non existent train was built in Syracuse, NY, at a cost of 25 million dollars.
Barack's rail system goes from NYC to Albany, Albany to Syracuse, Syracuse to Buffalo.
It then inexplicably does not run from Buffalo to Erie, Pa, and skips Erie Pa to Cleveland. It does pick up from Cleveland to Detroit.
This nonsensical plan, never to be completed, should be a monument to the incompetence of the Kenyan Klown.
6 people like this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
Marzipan4 10/11/2022 9:15:02 AM (No. 1301233)
Lol this project has been failing since 1970. Let’s throw more money at it. Foolish is as foolish does
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
bad-hair 10/11/2022 9:42:41 AM (No. 1301272)
Ditto Texas. Our "high speed rail" is moving slowly. Why ?
I'm in Houston and I'm in no hurry to get to Dallas.
5 people like this.
Reply 15 - Posted by:
MickTurn 10/11/2022 9:53:09 AM (No. 1301296)
This one is far too easy...Any time there is a lot of money spent and nothing results, it was a Payoff Crony Scam to begin with. All involved should be in PRISON the next day!
3 people like this.
Reply 16 - Posted by:
red1066 10/11/2022 9:54:07 AM (No. 1301297)
This makes the big ditch look like a bargain. At least the tunnel under the Boston Harbor was completed. it leaks, but it was completed.
3 people like this.
Reply 17 - Posted by:
F15 Gork 10/11/2022 10:07:54 AM (No. 1301323)
High Speed Rail and EVs are both money laundering transfer of wealth schemes.
5 people like this.
Reply 18 - Posted by:
DVC 10/11/2022 10:32:06 AM (No. 1301356)
That project was a huge scam from day one. Public money transferred into private accounts, with "10% for the big guy" as the probably REAL world driver of why the project was approved. Lots of "big guys" out there stealing public money by the train load.....with a fake train in this case.
4 people like this.
Reply 19 - Posted by:
VirtuDawg 10/11/2022 11:05:44 AM (No. 1301397)
This boondoggle was Moonbeam Brown's payback to the construction unions. I don't think that it was ever meant to be built and operated, but only to provide union jobs over the economic/business cycles, an endless creator of useless work.
The California Dim Party is joined at the hip to the major unions -- CTA, SEIU, etc. -- that in turn direct State "policy."
4 people like this.
Reply 20 - Posted by:
earlybird 10/11/2022 12:09:16 PM (No. 1301472)
Most Californians have known this was a loser since it wad just a gleam in a politician’s eye. Just go away and let us have our gas-fueled cars...
2 people like this.
Reply 21 - Posted by:
danu 10/11/2022 1:55:48 PM (No. 1301577)
it's a ''peloser''....another personal piggy bank.
1 person likes this.
High-speed rail? Ha! The low-speed Amtrak line between LA and San Diego is currently out of commission to stabilize the tracks that are ready to fall into the ocean.
0 people like this.
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