Posted on 11/01/2011 1:39:35 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Reminds me of Senator Kennedy and the BIG DIG. Same ole crap over and over.
At the rate they're going, they'll out-do BART.
And that's excluding operating costs.
Willie Green got zotted. Still pimping for bullet trains, etc. at libertypost.org
in prison eh?
I hear the train a comin’
It’s rollin’ ‘round the bend,
And I ain’t seen the sunshine,
Since, I don’t know when,
I’m stuck in Corcoran Prison,
appologies to Johnny Cash :)
The $100 billion quoted is just for laying down new track. It does not include the construction of new stations, depots or the acquisition of new rolling stock. The estimate does not include maintainance and depreciation expenses. You can triple the price tag and its economically prohibitive. One can argue a bankrupt California would find it impossible to raise the money for it when it can’t even balance its own fiscal books. That kind of money can find better uses. California legislators should put this White Elephant prestige project out of its misery!
Cocoran Prison....right where the idiot politicians belong who dreamed this turd up!
Its not a fair comparison. BART is a mass transit system that serves the highly populated Bay Area. In contrast, the proposed high speed rail system would pass through sparsely populated regions. It won’t have a ridership nowhere near in size to BART. Its a political monstrosity whose sole justification for continued existence is that politicians continue to shovel money down its black hole. BART has been in existence for decades. HSR has no viable customer base, unless you count the politicians lined up in support of it!
Thank you Gov. Scott!
Hmmm? Projected finish date goes out to 20 plus years? Just enough time for construction workers to retire at the magic 20.
Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't Amtrak runs buses on it's route because of track damage from earthquakes, mud slides, etc.?
I wanted to ride the train from LA to Oakland in the late 80's and saw that it was half on buses and flew instead for $29 bucks on SWA from Burbank to Oakland.
I remember when Mount Diablo Road was the only way to Walnut Creek, where I lived before there was a Highway 24 freeway. My dad was a municipal finance consultant, responsible for financing the Oakland Airport, the Sacramento Deep Water Port, the Port of Oakland... With that background, don't you think I just might have the inside scoop on BART??? Sheesh.
When BART was built, the Bay Area was NOT densely populated all the way out to the burbs it serves like it is today. The whole point was not serving an urban area but to elevate the price of suburban real estate. In fact, the whole project was fronted by four developers who had bought the land for apartment buildings and shopping centers before the station locations were "officially" proposed.
The same thing is going on in the Central Valley today. What the heck do you think the whole Delta Smelt scam is about if it isn't to rip off the land from the current holders of water rights from the CWP??? I promise you, the "insta cities" along the "high speed rail" route are already on the drawing boards. It's not about connecting LA to the Bay Area; it's about building out the San Joaquin Valley.
bump
This thing will be almost as fast as Democrats shoveling money into their pockets from the US Treasury.
Yes, they will. And, yes, they will.
The environmental movement including cap and trade is their tool to tax and control.
The environmental movement including cap and trade is their tool to tax and control.
Bookmark
“Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the Springfield Monorail!”
I can’t believe the people of this state voted for the bond issue. It was so obviously a boondoggle. The media and the politicians did a disservice by not reminding the people about the Los Angeles Metro service. We got 7 miles of subway running from Downtown to Hollywood, it cost $1.1 billion a mile, 10x the projected cost, took years longer than projected, and serves very few people.
I’ve been in the Central Valley. Its like a furnace in the summer. I wouldn’t live there if you gave me a million dollars. Not unless they can find a way to change the weather!
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