In the past 13 years, the California bullet train, which was said to cost $10 billion, has now swelled to $98 billion, and the first section between Bakersfield and Merced has not even been completed. Do you ask who regularly travels from Bakersfield (Central Valley) to Merced (Bay Area Edge)?There are not enough people to offset the cost American taxpayer.
The motto, “A penny, a pound”, came to mind. Since the projects that stupid people voted for in 2008 failed every time, Governor Gavin Newsom did the only thing he knew how to do: invest more money and assume it would resolve itself.
From Los Angeles Times:
A battle for an additional 4.2 billion US dollars California bullet train already beat one deadlock, Governor Gavin Newson and legislative leaders failed to reach a compromise on Friday.
His hirsutism is still threatened by a recall. He and his media flatters claim that he has an advantage, but if he continues to lose these battles, it will add additional material to his dismissal.
No additional feed is needed. This governor is a disaster of corruption and incompetence, and he needs to be removed from office.
this California The High Speed Rail Authority is seeking to allocate all remaining funds from the 2008 Bond Act to continue building part of the operating system in the San Joaquin Valley. At the same time, a major coalition in the parliament hopes to transfer some of the funds to the southern high-speed rail section. California And the Bay Area.
Unless the parties resume negotiations as soon as possible, any additional funds will be used for bullet train must be negotiatable By 2022, the railroad project will be forced to go further into its funds of approximately US$2 billion.
This is the actual question: The federal funds Newsom and the California High-Speed Rail Authority hope to pledge in another trouble: the $3.5 trillion infrastructure bill is being debated in the Senate. In June, President Joe Biden restored $1 billion in funding for the bullet train deprived of by the Trump administration in 2019.
However Los Angeles Times Report last month,
A bipartisan package of about $1 trillion, Passed the Senate But facing The challenge of the House of Representatives, Did not mention the state’s high-speed rail project, which is the largest infrastructure project in the United States.
Representative D-Walnut Grove, a senior member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said he is evaluating which languages in the lengthy bill might help the project.
“We are trying to figure out how it will affect California,” he said. “We can’t find an exception in California, but one sentence can change that.”
The legislation can at best provide tens of billions of dollars in funding for the new passenger rail program, but most of it has either been earmarked for other states or will be affected by fierce competition among all states in the future.
Whether the US$3.5 trillion budget settlement plan being passed by Congress may contain a large amount of buried funds for railway projects is even more unclear.
Surprisingly, the California State Assembly is governed by Laura Friedman (D-AD44), is struggling with Governor Hair Gel’s hypothesis that we are the piggy bank for his pet project.
this negotiation Led by conference transportation chair Laura Friedman (D-Glendale), she has been urging bullet train After a history of cost increases and schedule delays, the project has been able to improve its performance. Friedman has been arguing for months that if it is not needed in the next few years, there is no reason to provide the railway authorities with the entire $4.2 billion in appropriations.
this negotiation It started last spring; since then, thanks to Newsom’s full support of the railway chief Brian Kelly, the route has become stronger.
“There was a decision to accept it in January,” Kelly said in a telephone interview Friday night. “Ultimately, we need funding. If we cannot get funding this year, we will come again next year.”
The Governor’s Hairspray is Mr. Stompy Foot, as his dream zero emission The electrified California seems to be dissipating.He can’t even Keep the light on In the state, but he only wants electric train cars. This will ensure that this “Nowhere Train”-if it is completed-will definitely have nowhere to go.
Newsom insists that the diesel era train It must end.
When negotiations broke down, the legislature and Newsom were far apart.
The railway project has funds that can last until next year unless it gets beat A large number of change orders or other issues from the contractor.
“Other questions,” you say?High-speed rail construction has been Full of them. Newest: Last year, unfinished bridges were displayed Support cable failure Should support the bridge:
A series of mistakes by contractors and consultants California bullet train Risks lead to support cables on a large scale bridge, Triggering an order to stop work, further postponed a project several years later than planned, the Los Angeles Times learned.
this bridge Longer than two football fields, shuttle vehicles are needed in the future bullet train Right of way in Madeira County and existing BNSF freight tracks.
The authorities have not finalized a restoration plan bridgeAt the end of last year, staff installed temporary steel supports to prevent it from collapsing.
When you continue to reward corruption and failure, this is the result.
The recall of Gavin Newsom, and the election of Congressman Kevin Kiley to replace him, will ensure that the plug is removed from the project that is already in a life-sustaining state.
