The scam of the century, the train to nowhere is about to get another $4.1 billion from the Federal government to payoff donors, corporations and unions. The High Speed Rail was sold on a pack of lies involving routes, ridership’s and costs—years later Schwarzenegger admitted he used phony numbers to sell us on a train meant as a payoff, not for the public. With a projected small ridership they only way to finance its running is by raising taxes and cutting education, public safety and the homeless.
“The new disclosures reveal not only an increase in the cost of the project but also a delay in its projected timeline. The Central Valley system, which will cover 171 miles and reach from Merced to Bakersfield, was supposed to be completed by 2028. Its new opening date has been pushed to 2030.
The original plan for the project was to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles hundreds of miles away. Californians were promised a train that would transport them from one city to the other in two hours and 40 minutes, a distance that would typically take a car ride of six or seven hours. That track was supposed to cost $33 billion, and voters approved a $9.9 billion bond fund for the project. The $4.1 billion ask would substantially deplete that fund, which hasn’t been appropriated from since 2012.
Special interest are loving this, while the grifters running the program are making slums out of large parts of the Central Valley.
California bullet train project to seek additional $4.1B amid delays and rising costs
by Haley Victory Smith, Washington Examiner, 2/8/21
The California bullet train project will seek $4.1 billion in additional funding in order to finish construction in the state’s Central Valley.
The additional money would be sourced from a bond fund that voters approved in 2008, according to a Monday report from the Los Angeles Times, citing newly released documents from the bullet train authority.
The report said an Assembly Transportation Committee hearing is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
The new disclosures reveal not only an increase in the cost of the project but also a delay in its projected timeline. The Central Valley system, which will cover 171 miles and reach from Merced to Bakersfield, was supposed to be completed by 2028. Its new opening date has been pushed to 2030.
The original plan for the project was to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles hundreds of miles away. Californians were promised a train that would transport them from one city to the other in two hours and 40 minutes, a distance that would typically take a car ride of six or seven hours. That track was supposed to cost $33 billion, and voters approved a $9.9 billion bond fund for the project. The $4.1 billion ask would substantially deplete that fund, which hasn’t been appropriated from since 2012.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who entered office in January 2019, promised to focus on the Central Valley portion of the train track first and foremost, citing the effort’s ballooning expense. Some have complained that the smaller track won’t be particularly useful to the bulk of Californians, as it will not connect major urban hubs.
One estimate, which the Los Angeles Times reports is now likely out of date, indicates that the full project could cost California just under $100 billion.
Among Californians, the planned system has become known as the “train to nowhere.”
