California bullet train cost surges by $2.8B

Re:California bullet train cost surges by $2.8B by cjensen on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @08:00PM (#16173696)

Can you elaborate on why you think the route is drawn for "political gains"? I ask because the route makes sense to me geographically given that the initial useful core route is SJC/LAX.

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Re:California bullet train cost surges by $2.8B by 1812Overture on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @08:50PM (#16173966)

Main use of HSR is going to be getting to and from peripheral cities. Fresno to SF and Bakersfield to LA in under an hour would be HUGE. That's going to get used more than the full SF to LA trip.

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Re:California bullet train cost surges by $2.8B by ghaff on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @10:24PM (#16174421)

I'm not convinced the HSR is a good idea. But I actually suspect, if it turns out 50 years from now to have been, it's because it created a corridor through relatively undeveloped country (yes, there are significant cities but small relative to the endpoints) that could develop along a fast transportation link. Convenient (ADDED: somewhat) fast transit between SF and LA is almost beside the point.

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Re:California bullet train cost surges by $2.8B by robinsloan on Wednesday January 17, 2018 @11:17PM (#16174657)

Absolutely agree. Even just this first segment, from Fresno to the Bay Area, is going to be transformative.

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