Current Events > California high speed rail will now cost $105 billion

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://fox40.com/news/california-connection/costs-for-californias-high-speed-rail-project-up-nearly-5b-from-2-years-ago/

It originally was going to cost $40 billion. This is such a waste of money.

Without it being part of a larger federal project it'll be pretty limited in overall value.

As for calling it a waste of money, giving the people access to high speed travel that doesn't take up roads is a net positive no matter the cost and only focusing on the price is the height of shortsightedness.

Is the contract still with the Feinstein family?

gunplagirl posted...

Without it being part of a larger federal project it'll be pretty limited in overall value.

As for calling it a waste of money, giving the people access to high speed travel that doesn't take up roads is a net positive no matter the cost and only focusing on the price is the height of shortsightedness.

We could have used $105 billion to fix the roads and bridges in the state first.

Unless it goes out to the suburbs, mass transit quickly becomes "for the poors" and is quickly abandoned by everyone else.

State legislators, car lobbies, and NIMBYs are what's causing this project to balloon, but I won't see you blame any of them for it.

Monolith1676 posted...

We could have used $105 billion to fix the roads and bridges in the state first.

Playing catch up with things in constant repair would mean you'd never actually start a new project. And get this, there is still the normal amount of money going towards catching up on repairs. Plus this project will ultimately reduce the overall wear and tear of the roads as well as traffic so like.

The increases are due in part to new commitments aimed at minimizing community disruption, such as building enhanced noise barriers and distancing the train from the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in the Central Valley

Yep, that'll do it.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Unless it goes out to the suburbs, mass transit quickly becomes "for the poors" and is quickly abandoned by everyone else.

If you want to learn about useless rail systems that dont come close to reaching the suburbs, hen you should read about Detroits QLine.

How many miles of high speed rail has China built in the 20 minutes since this topic began?

Wow, I didn't think this project was even still going lol.

NinjaWarrior455 posted...

State legislators, car lobbies, and NIMBYs are what's causing this project to balloon, but I won't see you blame any of them for it.

I blame Governor Moonbeam for even starting this to begin with.

Awful

fine, TC can drive 9 hours to disneyland

i'll be there in 20 minute

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9Uru2l72hs

also we have a 40 billion dollar surplus so i think we're fine on cash

Worth it.

Antifar posted...

How many miles of high speed rail has China built in the 20 minutes since this topic began?

Yeah but we have FREEDOM GODDAMNIT!!!@!!!

I'm surprised eith all the initial planning they did that securing the land from point A to B didn't occur to them until post production.

We aren't China where it's residents can just plow through everything and everyone.qeather they like it or not. And MAYBE pay them before hand.

Antifar posted...

How many miles of high speed rail has China built in the 20 minutes since this topic began?

for real

china's commitment to enhancing their citizens ability to travel across their vast country is astounding

shame the states will never do the same

Jobs and some new infrastructure isnt a bad thing

Questionmarktarius posted...

Unless it goes out to the suburbs, mass transit quickly becomes "for the poors" and is quickly abandoned by everyone else.

Antifar posted...

How many miles of high speed rail has China built in the 20 minutes since this topic began?

Watched a video criticizing Chinas HSR and one of his points was actually they keep building tracks to poorer rural areas, which wont see any profit!

QueenCarly posted...

for real

china's commitment to enhancing their citizens ability to travel across their vast country is astounding

shame the states will never do the same

They don't have rich people or industries rallying against it. And if any rich person does try and engage in bribery or other shady activities to halt such projects, they're actually charged and sentenced severely on corruption charges.

Meanwhile we have the oil and automotive industries as leading opponents of railways, as well as train systems that are outdated by nearly a century. And then there's all the rich individuals with stakes in those industries as well as NIMBYs and so on.

You don't even have to look to China, just look at rail projects here in Western Europe

AablMind posted...

Watched a video criticizing Chinas HSR and one of his points was actually they keep building tracks to poorer rural areas, which wont see any profit!

Running mass transit out to rural nowhere is even more useful than the 'burbs. Especially so for a "developing" economy.

Trains are great. Imagine how much happier people would be if they didn't have to sit in traffic 2-3 hours a day.

Anyone who thinks infrastructure projects are a waste of money deserves their opinion taken off them and told to go sit in a corner

this is a good example of how Capitalism stifles progress

it isn't that it actually costs this much to do projects like this but that companies see this as huge profit opportunities

in other words, making money > public interests

example

North Korea is a trash country that no one should want to live in

but that is the thing, how does a country so poor have rails if they cost billions to make?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_North_Korea

Because they don't

Now they probably had the equivalent of slave labor, but then we can look to other western countries that did not. Labor isn't the most expensive part of this anyways. They aren't paying the people building (as in the actual laborers) this billions. You can bet the top managers are probably making several millions though.