California Bullet Train Will Waste Hundreds Of Millions

[Geee]

Investors Business Daily:

High-Speed Rail: California's proposed bullet train will be a fast ride to financial disaster. A new study says it will require between $124 million and $373 million a year in subsidies. Trains are romantic. Fleecing taxpayers isn't.

The Reason Foundation recently updated its 2008 study on the bullet train and believes the California High-Speed Rail Authority is overestimating ridership by 65% to 77%.

Consequently, the train will generate colossal losses that will have to be covered by taxpayers.

One problem is the express won't be able to make the trip between Los Angeles and San Francisco as fast as has been promised: 2:38. Reason's study says the fastest trip will be 3:50, with most taking 4:40 or more.

The "excessively optimistic" time is unachievable because the high-speed trains will be sharing tracks with freight and commuter lines in some sections.

The delays can't be made up by traveling at 220 mph as advertised because that is a pace "not attained today anywhere in the world" on rail.