For California high-speed rail to succeed, part of the Central Valley will have to wait
In a project update for state lawmakers released Friday, the California High-Speed Rail Authority unveiled the latest ridership and revenue projections for the Central Valley line and several other potential routes. The new data — the project’s first in two years — paints a harsh picture of an unprofitable bullet train, beset by too few riders in the state’s agricultural heartland, and costs for upkeep that would dwarf the money it makes unless it expands.
Authority officials have previously acknowledged that the 171-mile Merced to Bakersfield line would require a subsidy to operate, a point often drowned out in the narrow debate that surrounds the project. Authority CEO Ian Choudri, now one year into the job, seems to be betting that a blunt conversation and new funding strategy — free of government aid — could convince lawmakers to endorse a new direction.
But there’s a potential catch: It only might be feasible if the project is allowed to put the northernmost extension to Merced on hold.
Salvation for high-speed rail apparently lies in Gilroy, the world’s garlic capital, and its potential to connect Silicon Valley to the Central Valley — or even as far south as Palmdale — by 2038.
https://calmatters.org/commentary/2025/08/california-high-speed-rail-strategy/Open linkView original on lemmy.world
That’s an awful lot of pylons in the photo. Is that really for the rail, or a multi-lane highway?
Just another example of how this project is grossly overbuilt and mismanaged. This will be the location of the elevated Kings/Tulare station -- so the pylons are to support the platforms, station, and 4 tracks. Anyone else would have moved the station to a spot where tracks return to ground level.
Don't focus on profitability, roads are a loss and money sink. No one debates expanding the costs and ongoing maintenance. Rail is incredibly cheaper. Every year that implementation is delayed it's that much more car infrastructure is developed and housing not built near HSR.
It was folly to build a proof of concept. Deliver the value and show it works. It's been going on for years and it's still not ridable or visible to anyone. A perfect target for "waste of money" argument for lazy car brains who ignore the costs of roads. Changing the delivery to go to the place it will actually serve more people is not a difficult decision.