CA High-Speed Rail Cost Explodes to $231 Billion, From Original $33 Billion

[Dante]

No, I'm not referring to y'alls favorite leader guy. He did kill 6 million jews so he would be very popular with dems now but I'm referring to the constant slobbering over mass transit from libs.

The Painter Was a Stable Genius

 

[ColonelAngus]

Newsom would be SUCH AN AMAZING POTUS!!!!

Maybe we can make him POTUS FOR LIFE!!

Video: 2006: Gavin Newsom storms off after grilled about underage girlfriend drinking | Daily Mail Online

Resurfaced 2006 interview of Gavin Newsom storming off after he is grilled about his underage girlfriend drinking alcohol.

www.dailymail.com

Gavin Newsom losing his temper goes viral after California governor, then 38, is grilled about giving booze to his NINETEEN-year-old girlfriend

 

[Thinker101]

An accounting is long past due.

Hold on, Newsom has been a counting all the grift for years.

 

[ColonelAngus]

I wonder how much Newsom and his pals got from the project.

Massive government projects like that are perfect for stealing money.

 

[Papageorgio]

Has anyone here got any proof of corruption?

Actually has anyone here got any proof that any politician was even at major fault for this overrun?

This the cost of a country that has little experience in high rail infrastructure getting involved in a major project... This is a major learning curve, they probably shouldn't have taken on such a big project as their first try...

Can I also point out :
Still cheaper per mile than the TxDOT highway expansion in Houston.
But we see no Democrats here screaming about corruption...
Truth is this is large projects...It estimated first off way too low...

Here is the reasons we got:


A bunch of reasons, but that been suggested:

- Buy America rules restrict the materials that can be used in federally-funded transportation projects, which drives up costs

- the U.S. has a super byzantine environmental permitting process, then on top of that, California has its own statewide permitting process that's even more difficult to navigate, and the two aren't interchangeable so the project had to clear both

- California did not adequately staff the project. They grossly underestimated the number of people it would take to manage this.

- some of the project's alignment runs near freight railroads. Freight railroads are assholes. They will refuse to shut down their lines for even a few hours to allow construction work to happen. They are notoriously awful to work with, and that was the case here; they delayed the project as much as possible.

- there were a lot of lawsuits to try and block the project, some of which stem from the previously mentioned environmental permitting processes

- Property acquisition for transit projects is a pain in the ass; rail and transit operate under different rules from highways that delay them from purchasing property until permitting is done, while highway projects can buy up property while still in permitting. This isn't a legal barrier or anything; departmental staff just won't make the change.

- Government contracts heavily incentivize unrealistic low bids, and it's standard practice to build in contingency for a project to be 20% over budget.

- inflation in construction materials has outpaced regular inflation by a great deal

Buy American for a country that has no experience in this type of build seems a project suicide at this stage. China wouldn't do that, they would get you in, build it, they would try and copy you the next time.

So let me show you example of Buy America Act (federal)... The Contractors on this project are

• Construction Partners: Tutor Perini / Zachry / Parsons (TPZP) serves as the primary design-build contractor for CP1 (Madera to Fresno).
• Subcontractors: Key contributors include Fisk Electric Company, Becho, Inc., and Desert Mechanical Inc..

These are all American companies... This is the high end of high speed rail, something that is alien to US.

If this was done in in the rest of the world it would be either

• CRRC Corporation (China) (by far the largest)
• Siemens (Germany),
• Alstom (France),
• Hitachi (Japan),
• Talgo (Spain)
• Hyundai (South Korea)

So take China out and you see what type the other companies are... They are technology companies primarily...

This isn't about corruption, it is about US coming very late to the table on technology being implemented and used other places in the world. US is way behind on this type of public builds unless roads... Roads will not solve California problems... They have the population density and rail like this would connect their whole state.

Would take prudent advice here... Bring in an experienced contractor e.g. Siemens... Understand the benefit to the state financially of having such an asset. This would allow people to live away from big cities like San Fran and LA and commute in daily (this is huge).

Yes this is expensive, it always will be... But he lesson learnt here will be invaluable

This is not about budget over runs, it is about benefit v cost...

I don’t know if there is corruption however the project has been inefficient $231 billion, 16 years $12 billion spent not one piece of track laid, and still seven years away from completion.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas rail, $21.5 billion to build, started in 2024 and expect completion by 2029. $3.5 billion in federal grants, rest is private investors federal and personal loans.

Seem anytime government is involved it takes longer and cost more.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Not a single train made.

Not a single mile of track laid.


And GelBoi want to bring his corruption nationwide.

The money has been spent on studies, impact reports, permits, and the creation of state offices to administer the feasibility. Burearacy. They can't afford actual track and trains.

 

[Nostra]

Could I ask where is the $230bn coming from, I am getting $135bn online...
This hasn't been spent, this cost estimates...

Again this cheaper per mile than a Highway in Houston...
This is a 776 mile high speed rail system through some of the most populated ares in the US.
Which puts it at 174 million a mile...
Just compare, UK is costing £300m per mile for there high speed rail.
China can build cheap because they don't care about human right, employ rights and health safety is in the toilet...
I have no expectations that this is going to be cheap... the question is the Benefit going outweighs the cost.
First, to help pay for all this, set up stations in the middle of nowhere and buy all the land around it... How do you the TransAmerican railing was paid for back in the day.
Living on the line could mean you commute to either LA, San Fran or Sacramento... LAX I persume would be a stop on the way too.. Amazing what buy thousands of acres can eventually pay for..

Do the numbers properly, serious money not spent yet... But high speed rail is a game changer. Look at France, very few internal flights... Paris to Marseilles 480miles in 3h 08m... Trains very easy to work on not like a plane. No way is faster, take in the time to go from City Center to City Center...

This is about investment... Yep, this one is expensive.. Look at how much UK is willing to spend..

Nobody rides them. They are a money pit for their entire existence.

 

[Nostra]

So you approve this project that has cost over runs of 200 billion dollars, and in 20 years, no rail is installed, because of what France did?

Logic isn’t Teddy’s strong suit.

 

[Nostra]

NY POST is not known to be credible on stories like this

Should be easy to debunk the,
‘Get to debunking, Slim.

 

[Doc7505]

Nothing is the same. The days of Robert Moses, when the government could do what Trump favors "eminent domain takings" are over for projects like this. Comparing it all is like you dopes when you look for equivalencies on everything to excuse MAGA and Trump.

<~~~~~~~~~~>
The original plan in 2008 was to build an eight-hundred-mile highspeed railway to connect the main cities of L.A to San Francsico. and eventually San Diego
Unfortunately, the greenies at CalEPA have seen it differently and politicians have been dipping their beaks into the funds for their own projects, mismanagement, and funding issues has significantly impacted the California high-speed rail project to the point that only 171 miles have been built 18 years.

 

[CowboyTed]

Compared to airplanes, it is very slow. The funds would have been better used to pay a part of air fare than to waste 20 years with no rail at all installed yet.

View attachment 1249895

It is way faster...

I have used high speed rail... It goes city centre to city centre... No travel to airport, no security checks, can properly work while traveling... Far more recent and cheaper...

You could live three hours drive from work and your commute could be an hour....

Using ignorance as a method of argument...

 

[CowboyTed]

Why is it that libs love mass transit, love hoarding people into trains and buses, romanticize about europe and mass transit?

So have you tried high speed rail to get to work.. Fast and convent...

You keep not investing it it... Road construction inbuilt up areas is more expensive, look at Houston...

 

[LordBrownTrout]

So have you tried high speed rail to get to work.. Fast and convent...

You keep not investing it it... Road construction inbuilt up areas is more expensive, look at Houston...

I've ridden the MTA in hong kong, subway. It works quite well and its clean. I've heard the same thing about schenzhen.

 

[The Duke]

CA High-Speed Rail Cost Explodes to $231 Billion, From Original $33 Billion​

‘Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude’​

CA High-Speed Rail Cost Explodes to $231 Billion, From Original $33 Billion – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

28 Apr 20206 ~~ By Katy Grimes

California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle is now estimated to cost taxpayers $231 billion, up from its original $33.5 billion price tag in 2008 when voters passed Proposition 1A.
“Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude,” California Rep. Kevin Kiley said on X Monday.
Voters were deceived by the original ballot summary and language in Proposition 1A from 2008, but the state’s lawmakers seem to find that fact inconvenient.
And, the entire project is lacking in private, public and debt funding to complete even the most minor operating segment – nearly 20 years later.
“If it is built, California’s High-Speed Rail would be the largest public works project in state history. That fact alone appears to be intoxicating to state officials, in a perpetual quest to have California be the first state to do anything,” I reported in 2011. That’s how long California’s High Speed Rail has served only as a jobs program and a really bad joke on California voters and taxpayers.
~Snip~
n 2019, thousands of pages of public records were removed from the California High Speed Rail Authority website. Members of the media and anyone seeking information about rail authority spending are only able to access previously posted documents like detailed information on every project change order, board meeting materials and historical business plans, through a time consuming and unreliable California Public Records Act request according to the Rail Authority website.

The California State Auditor uncovered rail employees, contractors and consultants with wild conflicts of interest. Then-auditor Elaine Howle allowed the title of the audit to speak for itself: “California High‑Speed Rail Authority: Its Flawed Decision Making and Poor Contract Management Have Contributed to Billions in Cost Overruns and Delays in the System’s Construction.”
~Snip~

View attachment 1249538​

Commentary:
“A Billion here, and a Billion there, pretty soon you’ll be talking about real money!”
like the growth of parasites, and bacteria, the growth of government theft is exponential, until it kills the host.
Whether it's Jerry Brown or any other Democrat California Governor including Gavin Newsom, the fix was into fraudulently use of the Hi-Speed rail project as a cash cow for the Democrat party.
California's high-speed rail project has faced criticism for mismanagement and cost overruns, with estimates now exceeding $231 billion, which make it the most wasteful project in history, surpassing the 'Boston Big Dig' in terms of controversy and financial issues.
Comparatively, the Boston Big Dig also faced significant financial issues, but the California project is often cited as one of the most egregious examples of infrastructure mismanagement and fraud in U.S. history.

Read more:

California’s High-Speed Rail Project Is A Disgraceful Boondoggle

California taxpayers will continue to be railroaded by the state's ill-conceived bullet train boondoggle.

www.forbes.com

xxxxxxxxxx​

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-releases-report-exposing-no-viable-path

It was a Cloward-Piven tactic by Obammer from the get-go.
A way to sap taxpayer money away from things it should actually go for.
Like interstate road maintenance.

 

[Doc7505]

Look on the bright side. Lots of politicians and connected contractors got rich off of that money. Maybe they'll have enough soon and quit stealing.

<~~~~~~~~~~>
They all come back for another theft from the golden egg nest.

 

[marvin martian]

CA High-Speed Rail Cost Explodes to $231 Billion, From Original $33 Billion​

‘Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude’​

CA High-Speed Rail Cost Explodes to $231 Billion, From Original $33 Billion – California Globe

californiaglobe.com

28 Apr 20206 ~~ By Katy Grimes

California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle is now estimated to cost taxpayers $231 billion, up from its original $33.5 billion price tag in 2008 when voters passed Proposition 1A.
“Our country has never seen a fiscal disaster of this magnitude,” California Rep. Kevin Kiley said on X Monday.
Voters were deceived by the original ballot summary and language in Proposition 1A from 2008, but the state’s lawmakers seem to find that fact inconvenient.
And, the entire project is lacking in private, public and debt funding to complete even the most minor operating segment – nearly 20 years later.
“If it is built, California’s High-Speed Rail would be the largest public works project in state history. That fact alone appears to be intoxicating to state officials, in a perpetual quest to have California be the first state to do anything,” I reported in 2011. That’s how long California’s High Speed Rail has served only as a jobs program and a really bad joke on California voters and taxpayers.
~Snip~
n 2019, thousands of pages of public records were removed from the California High Speed Rail Authority website. Members of the media and anyone seeking information about rail authority spending are only able to access previously posted documents like detailed information on every project change order, board meeting materials and historical business plans, through a time consuming and unreliable California Public Records Act request according to the Rail Authority website.

The California State Auditor uncovered rail employees, contractors and consultants with wild conflicts of interest. Then-auditor Elaine Howle allowed the title of the audit to speak for itself: “California High‑Speed Rail Authority: Its Flawed Decision Making and Poor Contract Management Have Contributed to Billions in Cost Overruns and Delays in the System’s Construction.”
~Snip~

View attachment 1249538​

Commentary:
“A Billion here, and a Billion there, pretty soon you’ll be talking about real money!”
like the growth of parasites, and bacteria, the growth of government theft is exponential, until it kills the host.
Whether it's Jerry Brown or any other Democrat California Governor including Gavin Newsom, the fix was into fraudulently use of the Hi-Speed rail project as a cash cow for the Democrat party.
California's high-speed rail project has faced criticism for mismanagement and cost overruns, with estimates now exceeding $231 billion, which make it the most wasteful project in history, surpassing the 'Boston Big Dig' in terms of controversy and financial issues.
Comparatively, the Boston Big Dig also faced significant financial issues, but the California project is often cited as one of the most egregious examples of infrastructure mismanagement and fraud in U.S. history.

Read more:

California’s High-Speed Rail Project Is A Disgraceful Boondoggle

California taxpayers will continue to be railroaded by the state's ill-conceived bullet train boondoggle.

www.forbes.com

xxxxxxxxxx​

https://www.transportation.gov/briefing-room/trumps-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-releases-report-exposing-no-viable-path

It's. A. Money. Laundering. Scam.

 

[Doc7505]

I've ridden the MTA in hong kong, subway. It works quite well and its clean. I've heard the same thing about schenzhen.

Seems the opposite of the NYC-MTA, where it's loud, dirty and smells like urine and feces.

 

[Hafar1014]

The world is into

High-Speed Rail​

We need it

You will never have it in America as its against the law to go over 60MPH in a populated area

 

[Dante]

You will never have it in America as its against the law to go over 60MPH in a populated area

You're complete fool if you're under the impression there are not ways around that

 

[Hafar1014]

You're complete fool if you're under the impression there are not ways around that

The Acella from Boston to Wash DC is slower than a car and costs more. Like what you going to build tunnels at a huge expense. The way American cities are laid out there is always a populated area in between them. After the CA train disaster dont expect funding anytime soon.