Posted on 06/18/2023 8:45:29 PM PDT by lowbridge
When California voters passed a referendum in 2008 to construct a high-speed rail connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco, there was no shortage of skeptics. Forty-seven percent of the state voted against the plan, and a group of think tanks issued a nearly 200-page report that year arguing costs would skyrocket, ridership would not match projections, and the environmental benefits were overstated.
The skeptics, of course, have been vindicated. But few thought it would be as bad as it has since turned out to be. Fifteen years, and countless setbacks later, not a single mile of track has been laid, and estimated costs have risen to $128 billion — or $200 million per mile. There is no money left, and even the secretary of the California State Transportation Agency now admits, “We can’t get this project done without federal support. It’s just not going to happen.“
Nevertheless, Forbes reported last week that the California High-Speed Rail Authority now plans for the entire project to be powered by solar energy once it is complete because…why not? After all, it is not as if this bullet train is ever going to exist anyway. As such, its visionaries certainly have an interest in periodically devising new, wholly unrealistic schemes that appeal to those who voted for it as a way of distracting from their incompetence.
Forbes noted the plan includes “552 acres of solar panels generating 44 megawatts of electricity” and that “work could begin by 2026 to ensure it’s ready to power trains by 2030.” But anybody paying attention to the progress made thus far knows this is a pipe dream for a few reasons.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
“not a single mile of track has been laid”
the ultimate in eco friendly transportation
great job guys ...keep it up
“Nevertheless, Forbes reported last week that the California High-Speed Rail Authority now plans for the entire project to be powered by solar energy”
Great, now one would have to check weather conditions and verify that their train is scheduled during daytime hours.
Absolutely ridiculous.
A bullet powered solar train would probably work better.
The train to no where, no track, just ugly concrete columns by the hwy 99.
No one wants to go to San Francisco anymore.
Please build it. Go broke.
We're seeing more California license plates in Florida...
A while back, I heard a story that California’s so-called “High Speed Rail Authority” hired a bunch of executives from France’s high-speed TGV system to come over and consult on the project. After a month or two, the Frenchies quit en masse. The Frogs said that the project was a total waste of time, as the Californians running it were uniformly incompetent morons.
Biden says no help for trains in California as all fed money to be used building a rail line across the Indian Ocean, when that’s done, elevators to the moon and to Mars and beyond.
One of the great things about America that has been noticed over the years by foreign visitors is that things work.
You heard it over and over again from visitors: Things just worked.
It wasn’t perfect, but it was a meritocracy, driven by the profit motive.
No more.
California is the perfect example of why things are working less and less.
And in the next serious shooting war we get in, we are going to see what that lack of meritocracy has done to the military as well.
Of the $128B to $200B cost estimate which by the usual government estimatess is always way under actuals, how much has been spent in the last 15 years getting nothing done?
No one wants to go to San Francisco anymore.
High speed train to Hell
Absolutely ridiculous.
You have some info that some form of energy storage won't be used?
“You have some info that some form of energy storage won’t be used?”
They say it’s solar, nothing about batteries or other energy storage...and I doubt they will have any storage, since the cost of that, if reliable power is desired, is at least 5 times what solar alone costs.
“elevators to the moon and to Mars and beyond”
Contractors are drooling at the thought of getting trillions in federal funds!
The best part of the article is the picture of the scale model “train” in front of the state Capitol building.
It is like a big sign screaming “We are con artists here.”
Sorry, Bob, that's ridiculous to think the plan is for trains to run only in sunshine.
I do think the whole plan is stupid but lame arguments like yours just make you look dumb.
“Sorry, Bob, that’s ridiculous to think the plan is for trains to run only in sunshine. I do think the whole plan is stupid but lame arguments like yours just make you look dumb.”
I do know a bit, but I’m just taking them at their word. If they’re not going to say that they’re using the Grid as a BACKUP, if not the primary source (which is obviously the case), then I’ll hit them on it...because going to renewables, as in carbon-free, is NOT as simple as the media wants people to think - it is a LOT MORE than hanging a few panels on the top of a train, and that little detail will soon be sending us into the STONE AGE.
Isn’t it about time to give up the ghost on this fiasco & start figuring how to refund all the money that’s been spent on it so far?
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