Zombie high-speed rail project shuffles on

Todd Trumbull

The SF Chronicle has long been dumb on the high-speed rail project, like this editorial back in 2013 that was notably short on specifics. The other day they did it again, but at least they kept it short this time.

A Chronicle story last year was good, though it implied that litigation has delayed the project, as does a letter to the editor in monday's edition.

No litigant has been able to get an injunction to stop the project while litigation proceeded, though supporters like to cite lawsuits as something that's delayed the project.

Another phony issue by supporters is the notion that somehow, someday private investors will appear and help the state build the project. Why would anyone invest in this project without guarantees of a profit? 

Since there has never been a reliable way to pay for it---unlike the Golden Gate Bridge---it would have to guarantee investors a return on their investment, which wouldn't help the project's chronic funding problem.

Keep in mind, too, that 2008's Proposition 1A passed by voters authorizing the project promised that the system's users would pay to operate the system if/when it is ever built (See page 8(J) and page 9(d) in this document).

LA Times reporter Ralph Vartabedian has done the best work over the years on this project. Unlike other reporters, Vartabedian understands that the tunnel issue alone is enough to scuttle the LA-to-San Francisco fantasy.

His recent reporting shows that even Democrats are finally beginning to question the project:

"Once again it seems the High-Speed Rail Authority has released in the 2020 draft business plan a proposal for its future that it can't afford and that won't deliver what is promised," said Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Frazier (D-Fairfield), sharply escalating his negative assessment of the project...

"Every version of the business plan has increased costs and reduced scope and no longer resembles the vision promised in the 2008 ballot measure...Despite efforts by myself and some of my colleagues, the Authority continues to propose electrifying a segment of a train line in the Central Valley that will add billions of dollars to the project and provide little or no benefit," Frazier added.

See also Citizens for California High-Speed Rail Accountability (CCHSRA) on the latest business plan.

The best site for a thorough examination of the project.