I'm pretty sure the people calling it a boondoggle are correct. Obama included $3B in the 2009 stimulus package for it back in 2009. Not a single yard of track has been laid.
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/us/high-speed-train-in-ca...
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/263782-obama-high-s...
The project is hoped to finish in 2029, which is 12 years from now.
For comparison, China build the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang line in 4 years (approx half the SF->LA distance). The cost was $1.9B, which is less than what California has already spent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinhuangdao%E2%80%93Shenyang_H...
Here in India, we've built an entire city Metro system for about $6B. That's twice what it cost California to explore the idea of maybe someday laying track, or what it costs NYC to build 1-2 miles of track.
If we are serious about transit, we will figure out how to get the costs under control. Anyone who talks about finding $64B and 12 years for what should be a $2-4B railway in 4 years is fundamentally unserious.
If we want transit in the US we need to fix the insane cost problem. Anything else is sheer folly.
(Incidentally, anyone mentioning purchasing power or worker costs doesn't know what they are talking about. Paris, Hong Kong, Spain and Singapore are all wealthy nations with costs far closer to India and China than to the US.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/07/us/high-speed-train-in-ca...
http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/263782-obama-high-s...
The project is hoped to finish in 2029, which is 12 years from now.
For comparison, China build the Qinhuangdao–Shenyang line in 4 years (approx half the SF->LA distance). The cost was $1.9B, which is less than what California has already spent.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qinhuangdao%E2%80%93Shenyang_H...
Here in India, we've built an entire city Metro system for about $6B. That's twice what it cost California to explore the idea of maybe someday laying track, or what it costs NYC to build 1-2 miles of track.
If we are serious about transit, we will figure out how to get the costs under control. Anyone who talks about finding $64B and 12 years for what should be a $2-4B railway in 4 years is fundamentally unserious.
If we want transit in the US we need to fix the insane cost problem. Anything else is sheer folly.
(Incidentally, anyone mentioning purchasing power or worker costs doesn't know what they are talking about. Paris, Hong Kong, Spain and Singapore are all wealthy nations with costs far closer to India and China than to the US.)