Posted on 12/29/2014 5:01:34 PM PST by george76
Los Angeles Times architecture critic Christopher Hawthorne–who claims to be an “unabashed supporter” of high-speed rail–reviews Anaheim’s new train station and finds it “oddly antiseptic.” Hawthorne doesn’t care that taxpayers spent $2,764 per square foot for what is essentially a big glass tent. He is a little disturbed that the design is so dysfunctional that train passengers “exit onto an uncovered platform, take the elevator or stairs [up] to a pedestrian bridge, and then enter the building at its highest interior level” only to have to go back down again to get to ground level.
...
While Hawthorne’s critique is pretty negative, it is also naive. He thinks that reducing “California’s reliance on the automobile is going to require architectural as well as infrastructural leaps of faith.” Sorry, even the most perfect architectural design won’t overcome rail’s inherent disadvantages over the convenience of cars and the low cost of flying.
France is discovering this.
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The low end of the latest (meaning three-years-old) estimated cost of building exclusive high-speed rail tracks from Anaheim to San Francisco is $98.5 billion, which works out to about $3,000 per inch. By 2040, when the system might be completed if funds were available, which they aren’t, this cost is certain to rise even more.
(Excerpt) Read more at ti.org ...
Willie Green Ping!
A liberal boondoggle that never quite grows old.
Freaking idiots!
"To architecture critics, it may seem perfectly appropriate to spend $2,764 per square foot on stations designed to serve $3,000-per-inch rail lines. To the taxpayers who will have to foot the bill–most of whom will never ride the trains–neither expense makes any sense at all.">
That's damn expensive. At least the Taj Mahal is one of the wonders of the world.
That makes sense! And people just might use it.
This is all for “free” right, because the dough comes from Cali CapNTax?
That makes sense! And people just might use it.
One car bomb.
Perfect us of high speed rail. Paid by users.
Look at I-15 Ontario to Vegas and back especially on fri and Sunday.
Build the line from burbank to Barstow with a stop in Palmdale. Another line Ontario to Barstow. One line from Barstow to Vegas. Paid by room tax in Vegas hotels.
The states to just provide right of way and staff reports etc.
The governors would have to show leadership. Gambling on the train from Barstow to Vegas.
Not with a $57 per head passenger ticket.
Its not economically profitable even with subsidies and it won’t attract the ridership it would need to stay afloat.
Only liberals could love 19th Century technology.
Ontario to Barstow line to stop in victorville
It makes perfect sense to all of the people who lined their pockets.
HSR has no free market justification but politicians find it irresistible as a monument to their inflated ego and greed.
High Speed rail is a boondoggle due to two primary reasons, politics and maintenance costs. To actually achieve the high speeds the stops have to be far enough apart for the train to accelerate and decelerate from top speed, this will be unpopular in those locations bypassed. To safely travel at high speed requires a very high standard of track with no obstacles (clear track), thus very frequent repair of the track to keep it in the very best shape.
On a different note, Congress needs to make a policy decision, and decide to either subsidize as necessary to create and maintain a national passenger rail network, or cut AMTRAK loose. I view a national network as having a minimum of 6 trains a day stopping in each of the top 25 cities in the US.
It makes sense in Europe and Japan where you have high population corridors on most routes.
The proposed Fresno-Madera line is being built through a rural valley and doesn’t have a built-in captive market.
FAIL.
$3,000 per inch. It’s like they’re selling heroin.
Yup, the author is correct, $3,000 per inch (or $192 million per mile)
And, these are low-ball estimates.
Nobody in my Once-Golden State wants to take this train. Besides cost of a ticket (even if subsidized, it will be steep), the time it takes to get to the destination station will be far longer than aircraft, and often longer than driving (It's a TRAIN, and trains are late be definition.)
Add in TSA security and the fact that it is unlikely that your train ride originates or arrives anywhere near you, these are some serious time drags for (cough, cough) "high speed" rail.
.
$2,764 per square foot looks like a bargain compared to “ the new home of the European Council, which represents the bloc’s national governments, will be a seven-story-high white steel egg surrounded by an 11-story glass cube.”
Free money, all you have to do is print it or take it from someone foolish enough to work.
Such a deal!
http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-visit-to-the-european-parliament-leaves-many-amazed-1419804008
Never happen.
For some reason ‘high speed rail’ always goes to state capitals?
Like a magnet.
It may be a boondoggle to nowhere, but it’ll go there faster than goose-grease. It’ll also be a spectacular and inviting terrorist mark. A well-placed palestinian-style rocket into a train going 150+ mph? You tell me what that would look like. How could it be prevented along the whole length of the line?
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