Now I hear that even if we somehow build this thing, its operation will cost the taxpayers of the state of CA forever! Real white elephant!!!
[quote]
If the bullet train project is to pencil out, it must operate far more economically than any high-speed rail system in the world, according to the experts, who include former World Bank executive William Grindley.
Unless these extraordinary economies are achieved, the train will require alarmingly high annual operating subsidies “forever,” as the experts wrote in a report last month. The annual operating deficit could top $2 billion, they wrote.
The rail authority’s business plans indicate that the bullet train would cost about 10 cents per passenger mile to operate, Bushell said in a recent interview.
That means it would cost 10 cents to carry one passenger one mile on the rail system. But international high-speed rail systems cost on average about 43 cents per passenger mile, he said.
BTW if real operating cost of the project is more like 0.43/mile as it has been observed elsewhere in the world, then the cost of transporting 1 person from LA to SF is about 300 miles* 0.43 = $129 one way. If HSR has to make any money then it will cost >$300 round trip to transport a person and this project is not viable.
Therefore they might have just made a number of $0.10/mile…
