California Gov. Gavin Newsom bragged that the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco high-speed rail was “again on observe” throughout his State of the State speech Thursday — regardless of the venture being America’s costliest practice venture that has taken years to get rolling.
“Talking of tracks, we’re lastly laying them,” Newsom mentioned, unleashing a greatest-hits fashion checklist of progress on the $135 billion venture: greater than 60 miles of guideway poured within the Central Valley, roughly 50 main constructions constructed, 1000’s of parcels acquired, and environmental clearance for many of the route.
However critics mentioned the issue isn’t simply the tempo — it’s the plan itself.
“It’s in the midst of the state, a practice to nowhere on both finish proper now,” mentioned Bob Anderson, a Sherman Oaks retired engineer who has tracked rail planning for years.
He argued the zig-zag route defies the essential logic of high-speed rail.
“Each high-speed rail I’ve ever been on goes straight,” Anderson mentioned. “This factor wiggles far and wide. I keep in mind studying years in the past that when it obtained to LA, they didn’t even know the place to attach it — they’d should construct a large tunnel.”
Newsom pitched the venture because the backbone of a Twenty first-century transit future — quicker commutes, cleaner journey, and an financial enhance for Fresno, Madera and Bakersfield.
However many Californians aren’t shopping for it.
Seventeen years after voters narrowly accepted a $10 billion bond to whisk riders between Los Angeles and San Francisco in below three hours, the practice has but to succeed in both metropolis. And the estimated price for the total San Francisco-to-Los Angeles line has ballooned to greater than $135 billion.
“It’s the identical price story each time,” Anderson mentioned. “Persons are uninterested in being offered low numbers and watching them blow up.”
The unique goal completion date of 2020 has lengthy handed, whereas a brand new goal date within the 2030s would solely be for a partial Central Valley phase between Bakersfield and Merced — removed from the coastal endpoints voters have been promised.
The venture has additionally been battered by repeated funding gaps and federal reversals. Billions in federal {dollars} have been pulled, restored, and pulled once more over time — leaving California taxpayers more and more on the hook to maintain development alive.
