High-speed rail: Good money after bad

Bad news from Kevin Drum on the high-speed rail fantasy pushed, alas, by the Democratic Party.

Feds send good money after bad: $3 billion more in California HSR funding

Californians passed a bond measure for HSR between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 2008. It is now 15 years later and we aren't even close to finishing the first little segment. In fact, let's review a few facts and figures from the latest CAHSR business plan:

• The initial "train to nowhere," a 171 mile segment from Merced to Bakersfield, is still seven years away even if the latest schedule is met. It will supposedly be completed by 2030 after more than a decade of work and attract 12 million riders per year. Between Merced and Bakersfield!
• The other 350 miles linking San Francisco to Los Angeles will take only three more years. You betcha.
• By 2035 the authority will be running 120 trains daily between the Bay Area and Greater LA. Assuming an 18-hour day, that's one train every nine minutes. You betcha.
• Ridership will clock in at 32 million per year compared to about 12 million who fly between Greater LA and the Bay Area today. That's 800 passengers per train and 90,000 passengers per day. You betcha.
• The authority continues to claim that the full LA-SF trip will take 2 hours and 40 minutes, even though this would require continuous operation at average speeds higher than any HSR in the world. You betcha.

Oh, and it still lacks about $80 billion in needed financing even after today's $3 billion infusion. Hell, even the train to nowhere is still $10 billion short.

What's remarkable is that all of these assumptions are actually more realistic than they used to be. They've gone from pure fantasy to applied fantasy, but they're still fantasy. And now we're sinking another $3 billion into it. Sigh.