We've been posting on the massive grift and fraud that is the California HSR for many, many years. The New York Times just did a feature on the project that is not nearly as hard-hitting as it could be, being disingenuous from the headline on:
How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails
It was never "on" The Rails, a fact that was pointed out over a decade ago.
However, to their credit, the Times writers and editors included this vignette:
....The state was warned repeatedly that its plans were too complex. SNCF, the French national railroad, was among bullet train operators from Europe and Japan that came to California in the early 2000s with hopes of getting a contract to help develop the system.
The company’s recommendations for a direct route out of Los Angeles and a focus on moving people between Los Angeles and San Francisco were cast aside, said Dan McNamara, a career project manager for SNCF.
The company pulled out in 2011. “There were so many things that went wrong,” Mr. McNamara said. “SNCF was very angry. They told the state they were leaving for North Africa, which was less politically dysfunctional. They went to Morocco and helped them build a rail system.”
Morocco’s bullet train started service in 2018.....
There you have it, North Africa is less politically corrupt than California. Just amazing.
And the Governor of California wants to be President of the whole country.
January 2022
California’s High-Speed Rail Went From a $33 Billion Project to the Single Largest Public Infrastructure Disaster in U.S. History
Here are a couple posts from 2011:
"California High-speed Rail Costs Triple to $100 Billion (and it will be arriving late)
California High Speed Rail: The Man Who Predicted The Cost and the Delay
And some editorializing on the first bit of track to be laid:
High Speed Rail: "Texas Central Railway intends to build a Houston-Dallas line with private money."
....Of course the builders were able to pick and choose where they wanted to run their first line, unlike California which was forced by God to run their choo-choo from Bordon to Corcoran, a 65-mile stretch that will cost a minimum of double the $4.15 Billion estimate.
Borden to Corcoran?*
Okay, God had nothing to do with that routing of the West Coast disaster, that was all California High Speed Rail Authority.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for high-speed rail, it's just that in the U.S., in every single instance the promoters have been lying scum.
Every single time.....
....Earlier on the California Dreaming channel:
Mother Jones: "California High Speed Rail Now Even More Ridiculous Than Before"
Don't Argue Choo-choos With Reason: PolitiFact Gets High-Speed Rail Facts in Florida Wrong
California High-speed Rail Costs Triple to $100 Billion (and it will be arriving late)
California High Speed Rail: The Man Who Predicted The Cost and the Delay
Jerry Brown Rejects $100 Billion Cost Estimate, Says Cap-and-trade Fees Will Fund High-speed Rail
And elsewhere:
China Considering Beijing-US High Speed Rail Line
*From the San Jose Mercury News 20Dec2010:
