In 1957 the Southern Pacific railroad ceased its famous Daylight passenger train service between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The reason was a simple matter of economics, the price of a one way ticket between the two major cities was roughly twice that of both the bus and an airline ticket at the time. Simply put, there were cheaper alternatives to rail travel and no one was riding the train anymore.
Flash foreword to 2008 when the voters of California overwhelmingly supported the funding of new high-speed service between the state's two largest cities to the tune of a proposed $33 billion. The new railroad was supposed to mimic the famous Japanese Shinkansen high-speed passenger network where trains can reach speeds in excess of 150 miles per hour. It was noted at the time that the trains could indeed reach those types of speeds in the open California central valley, but may have to slow down to a crawl when the trains would have to travel on already existing freight railroads to traverse the states mountainous region just north of Los Angeles.
Here we are in 2021 and the California High-Speed Rail project was scheduled to begin service over a year ago. The cost of this incredible boondoggle has ballooned to over $98 billion and has been mired in an endless parade of bureaucratic potholes. To this day not one rail has been bolted down.
At this time the High-Speed Rail Authority is seeking another $4 billion in funds to be released so that construction can begin on the Bakersfield to Merced section with hopes that trains may begin running by 2029.
Let's cut to the chase. The California High-Speed Rail will probably never be completed and the tax payers of the state have been fleeced for at least $98 billion that could have been used to fix the states crumbling roads or towards clearing forests of the dry timber that leads to hundreds of acres going up in flames every year just for starters.
The fact is nobody would ever ride the train to start with, especially when the distance between Los Angeles can be traversed in roughly five hours by car and a plane flight takes only an hour. To begin to pay for the present costs of the railroad and then to keep it running the price of a ticket for the three hour trip would have to be astronomical.
Price it too high and no one will ride it, price it too low and it will never be able to pay for itself. The Southern Pacific Railroad figured that out in the late 1950s. Today California politicians don't seem to have a clue with both sides of aisle undecided to whether free up the funds the Rail Authority is demanding or do the right thing by pulling the plug.
Check Out:
California bullet train's latest woe: Will it be high speed?That's a conversation Democrats in the state Assembly want to have amid negotiations over whether to release about $4 billion in bond money for the project. The California High-Speed Rail Authority said it needs that money to continue construction beyond next summer. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom included it in his state budget, but negotiations between his administration and the Legislature have stalled. They're hoping to reach an agreement when the Legislature returns for session in January.
It's the latest setback for the project, originally expected to cost $33 billion and be completed last year. Today the vision of shuttling passengers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours is a distant dream. The first leg of rideable track, connecting two cities in the Central Valley, won't start until at least 2029, and the project's costs have ballooned to $98 billion.
Little political will seems to exist to either kill the project outright or to give it more resources, leaving construction to continue without a long-term plan.
At the center of the latest dispute is how soon to electrify the line, which rail officials say is a necessity to make the train high speed — the whole idea of the project that voters were sold on. They want to enter into a contract next year for a firm to design and construct an electrified track and system and to maintain it for 30 years, effectively locking in the state for the long haul.
No comments:
Post a Comment