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Government
Cost for California bullet train system rises to $77.3 billion
2018-03-11
[LATIMES] The price of the California bullet train project jumped sharply Friday when the state rail authority announced that the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would be $77.3 billion and could rise as high as $98.1 billion — an uptick of at least $13 billion from estimates two years ago.

The rail authority also said the earliest trains could operate on a partial system between San Francisco and Bakersfield would be 2029 — four years later than the previous projection. The full system would not begin operating until 2033.
Posted by:Fred

#20  How much did the Beijing - Shanghai high speed line run?
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Smiter of the Wee Folk3077   2018-03-11 20:50  

#19  Somebody should be taking a bullet over this.
Posted by: Besoeker   2018-03-11 18:54  

#18  NOT with the tunneling and metro-layouts
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-11 18:02  

#17  If this was anything other than a stupid way to funnel money to their buddies, they'd simply ask the Japanese rail companies for an estimate and could have a real, safe, working train in less than 5 years. For probably less than 10 billion.
Posted by: Silentbrick   2018-03-11 15:53  

#16  San Diego UT Editorial: 3 big ways the HSPR Business plan fails
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-11 15:08  

#15  They were expecting a Hillary president with a BIG checkbook.
Posted by: BrerRabbit   2018-03-11 15:04  

#14  Only chance this project had is if they had tried it in the 90s when California was flush with tech money and the environmentalists hadn't infected everything with their madness. At this point there is no chance.
Posted by: rjschwarz   2018-03-11 14:58  

#13  The business plan never worked without massive subsidies
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-11 14:12  

#12  If they weren't so damn crooked we could afford it and it would be a good thing. Japan did it. California should be able to do it but corruption gets in the way.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2018-03-11 14:04  

#11  Brown, like Biden, loves him some choo-choos
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-11 13:08  

#10  Why wouldn't they just invest in the hyperloop? Seriously.
Posted by: Thusogum Untervehr8571   2018-03-11 11:54  

#9  G*d help them if some of the calls for anti-monopoly crack downs on Silicon Valley gain traction.

G*d help them if US Gov stops protecting IT giants patent rights internationally.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2018-03-11 11:44  

#8  What's the over/under on when the bill hits $100Bn?

At the current rate of growth they've got about 4 years max, but, given an expected acceleration in growth rate I figure they've got 3 years at best.

G*d help them if some of the calls for anti-monopoly crack downs on Silicon Valley gain traction.
Posted by: AlanC   2018-03-11 11:41  

#7  They say the project can't be done on a "pay-as-you-go basis." Is this because California's estimated "wall of debt" is currently something like $443 billion and their credit has tanked? Maybe people are beginning to worry about their public pensions being paid?

For those interested in the plan and where the HSR is planned to go, check it out here. You can even leave comments about the plan.



Posted by: JohnQC   2018-03-11 11:10  

#6  Things will calm down in California when the leftie govt and their commissars run out of other people’s money. Then the people get to fight over the already chewed bones in the dog yard. Venezuela is the model.
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2018-03-11 10:22  

#5  "We have to build it so we can see how much it costs."
-- N. Pelosi
Posted by: SteveS   2018-03-11 10:19  

#4  The Browndoggle was sold with ballot lies
Posted by: Frank G   2018-03-11 09:56  

#3  For that kind of money someone could buy 3000 helicopters for 10 million each; invest the remaining money at 2%, pay the pilot 250k/yr. and be up and running shuttling folks in a few months. Just charge customers fuel and maintenance.
Posted by: Airandee    2018-03-11 08:38  

#2  In the private sector that kind of nonsense will get you foreclosed on by your creditors real fast.
Posted by: Omeger Gray6606   2018-03-11 07:48  

#1  As former Assembly speaker and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown said; “If people knew the real cost from the start, nothing would ever be approved. The idea is to get going. Start digging a hole and make it so big, there’s no alternative to coming up with the money to fill it in.”

The future called. They said it's really fookin expensive there.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy   2018-03-11 03:44  

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