This high speed rail project is such a boondoggle. Does anyone here believe anything will ever get built? I'm guessing billions will be squandered on partial tracks before the project goes bankrupt.

Last week I drove three hours each way for a "can't miss" meeting in Fresno. I had cars waiting I could have used. I had work I could have done on the train. Most Californians will only ride HSR once in a while. Since there will be forty million of us soon, flying does not get easier, and remote conferencing seems to never quite get all the way there, demand for the HSR will likely rise, particularly the next time oil prices surge. Using this money for Water Supply Development would also be illegal.

Look, most other regions in the developed world with similar populations already have high-speed rail and are quite happy with it. Why shouldn't we in California? I sometimes go to Fresno and Los Angeles and would love to take a train so I could work, instead of my car.

The author is far too optimistic. This is not a "massive victory" by any stretch of the imagination. This merely keeps the project on life support until the HSR has to tap bond money. At that point, this incredibly wasteful and destructive money sink once again will be back in courts; to determine if the HSR Authority can demonstrate that it can present to the courts credible and detailed plans that meet all of the criteria necessary to spend money from the 2008 bonds.

Also, the article conveniently fails to mention that Judge Kenny, as reported on P1 of today's SJ Mercury is quite skeptical of the HSR Authority's ability to comply in the future with the strict terms specifically laid out in the 2008 initiative. "Judge Kenny acknowledged that evidence produced by [the plaintiffs] raises 'substantial concerns' about the rail line's ability to ultimately comply with the bond act. But in the ruling issued Tuesday, which opens the door to future lawsuits, Kenny said the state hadn't crossed the line quite yet."

So, HSR limps on with no new Federal or private sector money in sight.

A train just derailed in Alameda County because of a downed tree. Any lone wolf terrorist or radicalized couple could end the use of High Speed Rail (HSR) with a tree branch or other cheap device. $200-$400 billion down the drain. Or how about just an extortionist? One after another. HSR would be such an easy target. BART is already too inviting. Selecting what to build needs to account for realities in the years and decades ahead. Bad guys are not relocating on the moon. They are right here in America and on the way.

He called high-speed rail an "ongoing, dynamic, changing project"

The phrase you are looking for is "out of control".

More wasteful spending when there are far more important things that need to be done. Water storage is FAR more important but there are crickets when we ask about new storage. If the cities in the area continue to build without any sign of an actual plan that involves the good of citizens rather than the coffers of the wasteful city and county officials, we will continue to see the quality of life decline.

Due to repeated violations of our Terms of Use, comments from this poster are automatically removed. Why?