It has been a while since we mentioned the increasingly infamous California high speed train that upon completion is supposed to go between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area at 200 mph. It has been taking a while and in past posts on this blog we mentioned from time to time what was going on. Mostly, it was bad news of delay and rising projected costs. So far only the segment from San Jose and Bakersfield is being worked on and that one alone is now projected to cost some $33 billions — with a “b.”
To get a fuller story of what has gone wrong with this project, check out a City Journal article by Connor Harris, entitled Fast Train to Failure that you can find at:
https://www.city-journal.org/californias-high-speed-rail-project?utm_source=City+Journal+Update&utm_campaign=97cd86f533-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_12_05_12_08&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6c08930f2b-97cd86f533-109498985
The principal supporter of this project has been Governor Jerry Brown, but he is leaving office in a few weeks, and it remains to be seen if his successor will pursue this effort with similar zeal. In the meantime the state is spending money like a drunken sailor. Stay tuned.
For an alternative view of the situation, check out CNBC, ( https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/12/californias-77-billion-high-speed-rail-project-is-in-trouble.html ) which tells us that the projected cost is now $77 billion and that figure “could rise to” $98 billion.