When something sounds too good to be true, it usually is. California taxpayers were conned into voting for a $9.95 billion “bullet train” boondoggle that has been on the verge of failure since its inception. The purported goal of the train is to transport travelers between Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours, which allured a slim majority of Californians to vote in favor of the project in 2008.
The pushers of the plan claimed that the long term price tag would be $33 billion. Eight years later the cost has more than doubled, teetering over $68 billion. The $9.95 billion from taxpayers doesn’t come close to keeping the plan afloat and most investors won’t touch the project.
The California High Speed Rail Authority still claims that the project will not need to be subsidized by the federal government. The authority has told taxpayers that railway profits will be enough to finance the construction once the rail is running but projected ticket prices have already surged $30.
The assembly has passed a bill requiring the rail authority to reveal an in-depth analysis of all railway expenses but it will do little to stop the continual waste of time, money and resources.
An article from Reason Magazine highlighted the failure of this project:
Construction is already over two years behind schedule and the state has still not disclosed how they plan to raise the $53 billion in additional funds to complete the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco track.
This “bullet train” disaster will continue to be a massive burden for taxpayers. California needs to stop spending taxpayer dollars on a project that was never going to work.