Not much has been said lately about high-speed rail, but it was quite an ambitious part of the 2009 stimulus package. States like Ohio, Florida, and Wisconsin wisely turned down federal money to build high-speed rail lines, knowing they couldn’t afford the project in the long run, even subsidized by the federal government.
California, of course, went ahead with plans for a high-speed rail line, and as The City Journal reported this week, California’s bullet train “will cost far more than projected, won’t thin out today’s jammed highways, and will never run on time.”
The City Journal reports that California “has already spent more than $3 billion on a project with an estimated cost that has bounced around from the original $33 billion to $43 billion, then up to as much as $117 billion, before settling, at least for now, at about $68 billion.”
It looks like California's bullet train won't be as fast or as cheap as promised. https://t.co/rEG1SnY5AF
— City Journal (@CityJournal) December 9, 2017
WHAT!? https://t.co/DI80iKnGdf
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) December 9, 2017
It’s a shocker, right?
"Unexpectedly"
— Just Tom (@thomasa56) December 9, 2017
What a shocker!
— PHYLLIS FINNEGAN (@dundeeborn69) December 9, 2017
What?! You mean a government project is going to be more expensive and low functioning as promised?! No way!
— Vander (@RealVander007) December 9, 2017
Well I, for one, am shocked, just shocked.
— Tim Stelzer (@RoboMerican) December 9, 2017
In other news, the sky is blue and water is wet.
— Lord Alfred Tennis Son ?? (@mikey_likesit76) December 9, 2017
Well, Knock me over with a feather. I did not see that coming….
— Mike Downing ? (@mikesdowning) December 9, 2017
— Jen DinNJ (@JenDinnj) December 9, 2017
— HBMuzik (@HBConservative1) December 9, 2017
Two things are GUARANTEED when they scratch out the projections for these type of projects: 1. They will overestimate ridership. 2. They will underestimate the cost. Every single time.
— Robert Morro (@bmorro44) December 9, 2017
I know, I know. This is a stunning, out-of-the-blue surprise, particularly for people who actually understand large complex projects and the track record (SWIDT?) of mass transit in the United States. Who could have predicted this? Besides everyone, I mean? @CityJournal
— Брюс Вебстер (@bfwebster) December 9, 2017
They didn’t consider floodplains in their initial environmental analysis, and they don’t own any of the land it would be constructed on. Cluster from the start.
— The Right Honourable (@HonourableRight) December 9, 2017
Won’t be as fast, will cost more- next how much will they have to subsidize each trip? If it actually gets completed
— frank james zidonis (@frankzidonis) December 9, 2017
https://twitter.com/JaeMillz93910/status/939519203169701894
Okay, call out: who thought it would be anything other than a colossal suck-hole of money, unwanted, unneeded, and most likely never to be completed? <<crickets>> Poor CA taxpayers, but then you get the government you vote for.
— Mary Luigi (@MaryLuigi1919) December 9, 2017
By the time it's built it will be like the old Disneyland People Mover running between Fresno and Bakersfield.
— Little Larry Sellers (@SpawnOfDanelaw) December 9, 2017
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Related:
California Senate votes to spend itself into oblivion with high-speed rail
Sound familiar? Joe Biden joins push to ‘go big’ on high-speed rail spending
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