What Went Wrong With California's High-Speed Railway
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2021
- It promised to transform how Californians travel but is now seen as a “bullet train to nowhere.” This is why America's west coast megaproject has been far from high-speed. For more by The B1M subscribe now - ow.ly/GxW7y
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Audits have shown that an overwhelming amount of the funding have been eaten up in "consulting" fees
not surpirsed Sweden hasnt even started its highspeed project (starts early 2022) ant already has conulting fees of $1,6 billion
And lawyers?
@@KayyHong if youre talking with me then yes and lawyers this entire project has been such a hedache
Consultants get paid too much
Sauce?
I've once travelled between Amsterdam and London on the Eurostar. High speed train is honestly the most comfortable way to travel and ideal for reasonably short distances.
Agreed. Especially for a pedestrian wanting to go to another city center
Europeans and Asia we’ve been doing that since the 1980s !
@@lorenzzoklein9178 technically in terms of relative "high speed" rail travel we've been doing it since the 1870s
but if at the other side of the journey the public transport is nonexistent, it's an issue too, albeit a smaller one.
As a Dutch citizen in a country that is about 200 miles in diameter, the distance between Amsterdam and London is not reasonably short. We consider a 50 mile journey to be relatively long, London is very far away.
Unable to build a single overground railway connection over the course of three decades? That's not just incompetence or corruption, it's obviously both.
One of the stupidest things I've heard out from a professor's mouth was one UC Berkeley Prof saying:
"Part of the problem with California is that the terrain is so rough compared to flatlands of Japan and East China"
This just blew my mind because one of the first things people think of Japanese geography is that it's mountainous af. The bastards even dug a tunnel under the sea to connect their big islands which the US doesn't have to do. And eastern China gets quite mountainous when you go south of Hangzhou.
@@chinguunerdenebadrakh7022 Switzerland built the longest railway tunnel in the world through the Alps, the "Gotthard Base Tunnel", and it ended up costing about 10 billion USD. Now the Austrians are building an even longer tunnel under the Brenner Pass, which supposedly will cost less. France isn't famous for a railway "to arrive on schedule", but they have had working highspeed connections for decades. The TGV, train à grande vitesse, has held the speed record for a long time. The list goes on.
funding didn't arrive until 2009. before then, not much was done and it certainly was nowhere near shovel-ready at the time so they still had to get everything prepared for construction. then construction got delayed by nimby lawsuits. so in reality, there has really only been around six years at most of construction and that's not considering the lack of financial support that has been realized as compared to what was anticipated at the time the bonds were passed.
😂
Excuses excuses sound like india nowadays 😂 must be something spread by democracy.
When you talk about a 6 hour drive from SF to LA, that’s just to get from the edge of one to the other. Once you hit the suburbs, you have another 1-3 hours to get to your destination, depending on traffic. It’s a mess. I’d take the train to LA, but would still need a car to get anywhere. SF Bay Area at least has something resembling a local transportation system.
LA too. The BBB and Culver City bus routes are actually pretty nice.
Yep, even with the train it would not work as there is no regional public transportation to Marin, Sonoma or Napa Counties. In the 00's, I lived in Anaheim and my sister lived in San Leandero, I could make it in 6 hours at 75mph. No stops AND I had my own transportation once I got there. She lived next to the Oakland airport and It wasn't even worth flying now that we have TSA lines.
there's actually high speed train that can haul cars inside European Trains has it....
when that person talks about a 6 hour drive from SF to LA, that person doesn’t mean to get from the edge of one to other. Once anyone hits the suburbs, people don’t have another 1-3 hour drive to get to your destination depending on traffic. /
@@erikh9991 Yeah, this is no longer possible in 6 hours. I make this drive occasionally to visit family and it always takes at least 7 hours nowadays (Berkeley to Anaheim). Needless to say, I plan the trips to avoid traffic. But even if I slip through at both ends, now there's sometimes traffic on the 5 in the middle of nowhere, somehow. It's like there's always at least one slow patch on there. Always.
Plus, both the Bay Area and LA are densifying. There's a lot more stuff now close to public transportation. As traffic and parking get worse and worse, people build more within walking distance of public transit. Give it 10-20 more years and you'll have what are basically European-style city centers/villages around public transit at both ends.
A Highspeed railway connecting Californias two largest cities should already have been a priority 5 decades ago
Yea, but judging that they haven't, it looks like it's not a priority for them. And they have the audacity to tell us that they care about the environment. That's why I love Eastern Asian countries. Japan opened its first highspeed railway in the 1960s, 2 decades after it was obliterated in WW2, and their cities reduced to nothing.
It was and Trolleys were everywhere at one point, but the tires organization made it impossible. $$$$ so that's why we have busses in the roads
@@DacLMK There were just two small Japanese cities actually truly affected by WWII, as the war never truly carried on inland. Yes, those two cities were nuclear-bombed, but Kyoto, Nagoya, Tokyo itself, were spared. This is not to underestimate the Japanese recovery miracle and all its merits. Germany, on the other hand, was completely recked.
@@DacLMK yes but Japanese cities are also a lot closer together and they don't have as many cars per capita. Americans, especially in LA, are obsessed with driving and owning a car which is why the demand for mass transit isn't high in California like it would be in Japan
Why DID THEY Start in the middle vs Starting at each End?? This would have had immediate economic benefits and support??
Fun fact...Most passenger trains in the U.S. run at the same speed or slower than they did 100 years ago.
Not so fun fact...I have first hand experience learning that. From Tucson to LA. I probably could have walked there faster.
Sigh, while we built up our freeway network, we allowed public transit to stagnate.
@@souvikrc4499 we spend our whole budget on aircraft carriers while our country rots from the inside. Even still, we fail to take Vietnam or Afghanistan.
fk this country, I hope it dies
There's probably less trains now, than then, as well - more comfortable nowadays - usually.
@@pissyourselfandshitncoom2172 Our whole budget isn't spent on carriers...
I lived in NorCal but went to school in SoCal. If there was a high speed rail system, I’d literally have days of my life back, just from hours saved from driving.
Very well said. "Days, probably means literally weeks" of your life back.
The answer is lawyers. Property owners hire lawyers to prevent tracks being laid, and then CA has to pay lawyers to battle it out in perpetuity.
The US never seems to have much of a problem making room for massive highways though, right?
Excusers, excusers, it is incompetence, America is all about bragging in order to try and convince themselves they're superior but nothing could be further from the truth, America is Third World.
"The US never seems to have much of a problem making room for massive highways though, right?"
that was back when eminent domain had teeth. They cannot even build highways anymore, as most land these days in remotely populated states;
is owned by people worth at least nine figures. Armies of lawyers, state legislature riddled with bored grifters looking for a gear to seize up.
@@anasevi9456 thank god they can't. They where destroying entire communities with eminent domain and paying them almost nothing in compensation for taking their property.
@@anasevi9456 OMGG I say this all the time. Here in Texas, there's nothing stopping a 72 lane highway (the new eminent domain) that plows through historic and/or minority neighborhoods. They're like, "Who cares? Progress!"
BUT if you want to build even LOW speed train tracks, people will call you a socialist, communist, AND a fascist. All at the same time. Or worse (in their minds) a democrat.
0000
They’ve been talking about this since I was like 7 years old I’m now in my 30s 🤣
Your 7 years old son is still HEARING about it.
Sad
😳
Yep. I'm 50 and they've been funding this bullet train to know where since I was in my early 20s. One way to line the pockets of Nancy Pelosi Maxine Waters Gaven Newsom and all their colleagues. IT'S A BIG FAT SCAM.
I heard about this when I was still in school. I'm a granddad now.
Ah yes, the California High Speed Rail Line - The Brandenburg Airport of America
Except now the Brandenburg airport is now open
Germany is so famous :D
Not even close. No other country can reach the level of pathetic America is on.
The main difference is that Brandenburg airport actually managed to open, this will not.
@Impersonal Immigrant So that those people who don't actually need them may stop buying cars. Huge chunks of the demand is due to artificial scarcity of alternatives.
The next video CZcams recommends me titled "The Unstoppable Growth of China's High-Speed Rail Network".
The irony is strong
So strange to see a video from a British guy about the area I live in give me more useful information than 20 years of pundits screaming on TV/Radio about the most important infrastructure project that will affect me and where I live directly.
90 years ago: the Empire State Building was constructed in 13.5 months.
Now: this
wtf... honestly im using this statistic when explaining why capitalism has gone to shit and is no longer the best system. it used to actually have a historical purpose - but now it just slows development
And people died building it, and land was cheap, and the existing buildings did not have 20 lawsuits and special interest groups trying to stop their demolition and there were not 50 environmental impact studies required.
So you won't mind dying on the construction line then, building a bridge or tunnel for this.
@@alganpokemon905 It is because of government regulations not because of capitalism. Private companies are not interested in this project should say enough to everyone that this project is not good. Getting between SF and LA has never been the problem. Travel in the cities are way bigger problem.
@@STho205 It's a sacrifice well worth the benefit.
@@Shaker626 do you have a home you own?
As a Californian whose followed this project since 07-08, this video has greatly summed up the major issues of the CA High speed rail. Sad. Lawsuits & corruption are also driving this high speed down ( & cost up)
This is the major issue. So much of California conservatives were against it from the very start and have been holding it back. There was always going to be red tape but with the past Trump presidency making things more decisive. The new infrastructure bill is supposed to significantly help it though
@@Swiminatub did you read the infrastructure bill?
@@Swiminatub This project has been going on for 20 yrs. The fed govt requires regular updates and certain timelines to be reached for continual funding. When you fail to reach these repeatedly - you risk losing your funding it's always been this way. Trump just did what leadership in the past failed to do - that's why jobs and an the stock market was soaring and gas was $1.50 cheaper for Californians when he was in office
( prove me wrong ) - What has Brandon done between his dymentia episodes ???
@@stuntdriver2147 Stock market was soaring? You Trump supporters always close your eyes and ears when anyone brings up the huge crash that happened near the end of his term. Gas prices are high because of low production, you ever take a business class? Im guessing not, otherwise you would know that low supply + high demand = high prices
@@Swiminatub You must not be from California, its ran by democrats, this project has been over budget and delayed way before Trump was president. Its not close to finished and even if it was close it in farm land no one would take it. They shoulve cut bait and ran 10 years ago.
shinkansen was one of the best travel experiences hands down. it should definitely be more prevalent
We are getting that in india by 2023 / 24
Would love to see costs and "hours worked" broken down by paper pushers (admin/lawyers/management consultants) vs actual engineers/construction workers
damn dude, you wanna get somebody shot?
3 times over a budget, what..... How did they calculate the orginal budget?
Estimation
Companies dream up some numbers to get the contract(ofc they don't commit to any limit in these kinds of contracts) and as soon as it is a done deal they have no incentive to be fast or cheap anymore. Companies figured out how to milk the state for the longest time possible.
How do these companies do that? Asking for a friend...
The money still ends up in someone’s pocket. The construction and engineering companies will get rich.
Watch the Chanel: Megaprojects and you will see 3 times is not a big deal for project at this scale 10-15 times is normal.
First problem of the project:
Trying to build public transport in USA.
Yet it seems high speed rail will materialize in Texas from Dallas to Houston. Take note of which states get the backing of the federal government and which ones are hampered. If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might believe certain members of Congress are deliberately trying to wreck California's economy in favor of red states.
Maybe conspires but also piss poor planning. WHY not start at both ends to the next point and get immediate economic benefits and then iterate to the middle???
@@esioanniannaho5939 What economic benefit does a very costly station in the center of LA have if there's no train route to anywhere?
Texas managed to get theirs in control.
The problem isn’t building a mega project in the US
The problem will always be the greedy politicians controlling it. With no intentions of finishing the job with money but rather want someone else to pay them back. GREED
@@WestOfEarth The high-speed rail in Texas and Florida is fully privately funded. That's a huge reason it's much easier to build and less costly. California hates private enterprise, so of course they had to start without private funding. Now their ridiculous red tape has scared off investors, so they're left three times over budget.
"If you put the US Govt in charge of the sahara desert, it would run out of sand" - This rail project is a prime example of this quote.
Well, not really since the US Govt isn't in charge of this project and is only contributing funds
...with large corporations paying no taxes this problem will stay in the USA : )
@@didifischervideo Large corporations don't pay taxes because the government has too much power. It's very easy for large corporations to bribe officials, either elected, or not, to achieve the end that they desire. Regulatory capture is a problem, and it's a problem that only grows as government gets bigger.
We don't live in a Capitalist economy anymore, we live in an Oligarchy made possible by a bloated government that is completely corrupt.
@@operator0 I don't want to lecture you as European about your own history, but: Franklin D. Roosevelt, New Deal - very high taxes for the superich and corporations? Your countrie had a huge middleclass before the "neoliberal revolution" with Ronald Reagan (low taxes for the superich with NO "trickling down" in reality and this "religious" believe that the government as bad. ) IMHO
@@didifischervideo The bigger the government the more corrupt it is.
On China's railways, massive bridges are thrown up on a regular basis: In California, a tiny bridge completed is celebrated as a milestone achievement. Oh, how we have fallen!
Having a totalitarian government willing to expropriate land and forcefully remove people from it is a great help
Oh, but our green halos are so shiny.
@@BroodofLoki In China, if they need to knock your house down, they pay you more than it is worth, or give you a new, larger home , free. If you still won't move, they build the road around you. That is why 95% of populace are happy with gov't, and getting richer.
@@ablam8 Yeah, right. My Chinese friends have other things to say about the process.
Yeah, but those Chinese bridges collapse on just as regular a basis
Whenever you ask "what went wrong?" with a public works project the answer is always - politics and money.
Yeah but this also a US thing, you don't give private companies a contract without giving them strict requirements in both time & budget. They'll just suck it dry for all it's worth as they have no incentive to deliver. But in the US gov't oversight is by definition evil or something so "the market will fix it". Somehow
@@planets9102 In the case of California the government doesn't do that, they just throw money at people who donated to their campaigns as kickbacks. They never actually intended to build this thing from day one.
They've had what 15 20 years of studies they keep delaying it for more studies
Highspeed rail is for backward countries like china anyways. The US has great road and air infrastructure. The world should be copying the US, not the other way around.
@@antihypocrisy8978 As an American, ill say that what you said is stupid.
High Speed Rail is something America should invest in but it should just be for short distances for now as California is a huge ass state so its no doubt that it is taking so long.
Texan here. They have a proposed high speed train from Dallas to Houston using the Japanese Shinkansen system. Similar to California, private investors are lured to provide funding. The setup is facing major delays due to land acquisition. Land holding and acquiring seems to be a major thorn for such public infrastructure projects.
Exactly, if they just gave up and made the ENTIRE line underground, no one would bitch. Once setup, tunnel boring machines are cheap to operate. But, the idiots still play pretend games they are going to do this above ground giving everyone epilleptic headaches everytime a pole flashes past.
And if you have good public transport, here it's often cheaper/faster than the car.
Texas law allows railroads to use eminent domain to acquire right of way. But that would tie them up in court for ages, despite having won every lawsuit thrown in their way so far. As far as I can tell, they have received all the government approvals needed for their route, and have signed contracts with design and construction companies. That leaves money as the last hurdle. They need to turn those investor promises into real dollars so that they can convert their land purchase options into actual real estate.
They've been very quiet with press releases recently. I'm hoping it's just a stealthy land acquisition strategy of the kind that's been used for ages by oil wildcatters to lock down mineral rights before anyone realizes the value under their feet.
@@w8stral If I'm riding in a train, I'd like to see some scenery .
@@davefrompa5334 Not at 200mph or 300mph you would not. Unless you love massive headaches due to sun/shade/sun/shade/sun/shade of every single tree, pole, branch. Scenery from a train works at 45mph. It does not work at faster speeds.
Man, this just bums me out. HSR would be so nice to have in so many places in the US, but we don't have anything close to it even in the Northeast. I feel like recurring failures to construct meaningful improvements like this to society with any speed is a big part of why so many Americans have become fully anti-government, which then makes these projects even more likely to fail. It's such a mess, and I don't know how we're ever going to get out of it.
Just so you know, you can take the train from San Jose to Los Angeles. Passes through Santa Barbara and has some breathtaking views
I made that journey myself, about 12 years ago. The train was already leaving 30 minutes late from San Jose and from there the delay kept getting longer and longer. For long stretches along the pacific ocean, the train was crawling. You would have been faster by bicycle on the dirt road along the tracks, I kid you not. I had to call the people who I was meeting several times to tell them about the last ETA whenever an announcement was made. The reason for this is that in the US, cargo trains have priority over passenger trains. And thus a passenger train on a long journey will stop and wait uncountable times in front of a signal in the middle of nowhere to let a cargo train pass through first. In the end the train arrived SIX HOURS LATE. I have also travelled by train in Africa. I can attest that train travel in Africa was more reliable. The United States is a third world country when it comes to anything other than the military. It is a total joke.
@@trijezdci4588 infrastructurally, you’re correct. But certain areas of individual freedoms, America is centuries ahead of Europe. But trust me, the infrastructure here is slowly getting the reverse Midas touch by our “elected representatives”
The U.S. spent 20 years and wasted $2 trillion fighting a war in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, China in just over a decade spent $1 trillion to build the largest HSR network in the world.
Just when I thought my depression couldn't get any worse...☹️😅
Wasted $2 trillion? Several individuals got stinking rich! Isn't that a good cause too? USA!USA!USA!
@@Pvemaster2 Three, take it or leave it.
Yes but China had slave labor and zero property rights to deal with. We were too busy invading
@@skyrockhou6325 that's true as well.
I understand there's really no morals on both sides but at least those slaves are gonna reap what they built.
Americans just buried foreign bodies on foreign Sand...
While linking London to Paris with a tunnel literally under a sea "only" cost $20 bn.
Considering it was done a while ago it was a true engineering masterpiece and I use it frequently to drive to Europe. There are actually 3 tunnels. 2 for trains and 1 service tunnel. Your cost figures are also completely wrong. The full price of it was about £4.5 bn. which is like £12bn in today's money
12 billion quid is around 17 billon dollars at the current rate so at some point in the not too distant past the 20 billion dollar figure wouldn’t have been far off
I also wanted to take into account the line infrastructure to London and, to some extent, to Paris. But never mind. Stuff got more expensive.
How much of that budget has ended up in the pockets of lawyers and/or mobsters? Two competing entities that always seem to gobble up a lot of money in the USA.
It's "easier" to build under sea as the environmental impacts are smaller, and the is no land aqusition-problems. Also you can build in a more or less straight line
Lovely! Thanks for the great info.
The project is way over budget and is very late. This is on the “easy” part down the mostly level Central Valley. The real challenges are climbing or boring through the mountains at the south end of the valley, AND negotiating the hilly terrain between the Central Valley and San Francisco. How much longer? Fifteen years, twenty years? Maybe more like fifty years.
This is a high speed fail. If I had a choice, I’d choose to ride Amtrak, Coaster or even Metrolink with their new charger and f125 locomotives.
By that time we might all have flying cars
Same thing with I-69
One day, LA will be covered entirely in roads and nothing else.
dont forget parking lots
lol
@Dyslexic Mitochondria Sup bro I watch ur channeI. Love ur content
One day roads ands cars will no longer be around
already is but the trend that i see that will transform LA in the future will be density with tons of mixed use developments already popping up the city will look very different and will be ideal for public transit in the future
If you ever felt useless, remember that there is a California High-Speed Rail Authority 😂😂😂
I’m not American but this comment is so relative after watching the video 😂
😂😂 and it has been around since '96. So go ahead and procrastinate all you want.
Roger that!
I like how someone agreed with this 58 seconds ago. 💯😂
🤣🤣🤣🤣
At this point, I want us to just go beg the Japanese to build us a rail network.
Like please.
they tried. They saw our shitty route choice -- highway 99 instead of I-5 -- and withdrew their support when we didn't take their advice to go down I-5.
The French also, both said we need to go down I-5 and withdrew support when we did not.
The problem with 99 is that there are all kinds of little towns in the way where you have to slow down, and it has more curvature and the median is a lot smaller.
With I-5, nice straight road, nice wide median, you can build a train right there at ground level, no eminent domain needed.
This isn't on the engineers....they are doing their best. They have a shitty design and shitty orders from management. It's a stupid project, basically dead already and I can't wait until it's officially cancelled.
@@neutrino78x Do you have reading on this? Would love to learn more about how we were collaborating with other countries and exactly what decisions we made to fuck it all up.
why not china
@@user-jc9vt1lj7f In terms of what the railway is like? Insofar as the technology and systems in place for China and Japan is similar, then yes, like China. In terms of who to bring on as advisors well... that's very obvious geopolitics haha. Japan and the U.S. are strong allies while China is the U.S.'s top rival at the moment.
@@Cruxispal not so much top rival as just "one of two countries that is on a nuclear hair trigger against the nuclear allies (USA, UK, France)".
I was a submariner....and yes, the cold war is still going on...we and France and the UK have to retain our arsenals, unfortunately, until they destroy theirs.
What is also important for this to work is where these lines end in the cities. Ideally near to the city centers, not on the outskirts of the city.
And more importantly that there is useful public transit to/from the stations.
Half a century of betting on highways and car dependence has ham strung a lot of cities who built out to accommodate those and tore out the infrastructure they now want to rebuild.
Nailed it right on the head. We are paying for the foolish assumptions and sins of the past. And its a brutal harsh lesson learned.
@qshot9848 we gotta start somewhere, and IMHO a HSR project line to renew people's interest and appreciation for public transit is a fine place to start.
@@nickquang1996 true. My gripe is implementation. It’s been a dysfunctional mess to that keeping the project up could cause public to be Leary and weary. Damned if we do and don’t situation where there’s no easy way out or win.
I live in California, and everything about this project is predictable and expected.
So, you are saying it was predictable that this whole show would be a disaster? Maybe just throw a few more hundred BILLIONS at it--that should fund some more studies about why CALIFORNIA IS GROSSLY INEPT AT FINISHING SOMETHING LIKE THIS!
@@Mister8224 I live in California too, and yes that's what he's saying.
Passenger Cars are more convenient and efficient than trains or buses over short distances. Flying is faster and now a days cheaper, over long distances. Just expand the highways and ramp up airports. That would be so much more efficient than trying to create a high speed rail network which Californians might not even use when completed.
FL had this horizontal Idiocracy, blatantly laying tracks all over land surface paths, calling it future transformation, causing barrier of natural and human commute instigated accidents & infastructure obsticles. Nothing new or efficient about this.
Yup
If it was in NY, it would go the same way
More likely a gravy train for the contractors.
@@Joe-nq6hy the USA is horrible in construction
oh yeah
@@Joe-nq6hy Well for one thing, I think Britain would probably throw you in jail if you submitted a bad bid, complete with an entertainingly moralistic and outraged speech in lofty language from the judge, almost certainly beginning with the words "in all my years, I HAVE NEVER SEEN SUCH SHAMEFUL..."
As I just posted on another video about this attempt to provide High-Speed Rail for California: "I just watched Alan Fisher's '
California High Speed Rail has Not Failed and RealLifeLore is Wrong,"'and he dealt very well with some of the criticisms of this current California project. His video is well worth a watch."
High speed trains in the USA would change so much. I now live in Spain and getting around in high speed trains is the way to go.
Exactly I’m in England and trust me I don’t even know normal people who use does trains. Plus if you are doing things of this magnitude it will have to benefit the middle class cuz that’s where the money will come from. It just a shitty project although
No, they wouldn't. They leave out those of us in the rural areas. glad it died!
@Angello! R. not true at all. China with a higher population than the USA and about the same about of land of the USA has one of the best high speed trains across their whole country. So could it work yes they USA has just fallen behind in a lot of its structure. Also majority of Europe in general has better public transportation within each country and connection between each country through high speed trains, buses, and cheap flights. the USA has fallen behind and its something that could improve within the whole country. Healthcare and gun control could also be better but thats another topic.
@@sergiolunadelaparra7088 the US is going downhill anyway like republicans vs the democrats.. they fight like crazy..
It took four years to build the Golden Gate Bridge. It was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.
It's a mile long. We're talking several hundred miles of infrastructure. Not comparable.
@@inyobill its a bridge
@@inyobill Dont be a fool.
@@kriegscommissarmccraw4205 No kidding?
@@ph8632 So you believe building a mile long bridge and several hundred miles of infrastructure are comparable, but I'm the fool. Weel, OK then.
Berlin Brandenburg Airport: "I am the most expensive, controversial and delayed infrastructure project ever"
California: "Hold my freedom..."
American "freedom" just like American "democracy" is perverse and corrupted by corporate profit-driven interests that more resembles and oligarchy than a democracy.
I suggest the educated intellectuals use the Scandinavian countries as a better example of true Democracy
You also have the noord zuid lijn in Amsterdam. This happens everywhere
Stuttgart 21 intensifies
@@slslbbn4096 Sadly so. And just so US Americans know, that's [Scandinavian freedom] what the rest of the Europe is half-jokingly calling 'socialism' (in a positive light, of course), and not that perverted bs Russia was trying to concoct during 20th century.
It is so painful to watch how the country that once pioneered civil rights and liberty is a glaring example of plutocracy rapidly sliding into kleptocracy. 😞
Back to the topic: 25 "freaking" years since inception and the only obvious result is the tripling of the budget. Oof!
I hope Biden's love for trains is stronger than US Americans addiction to their wheelchair and scent of cement.
@@slslbbn4096 I suggest you educate yourself in economics and see that literally every scandinavian country has a way higher debt per capita than the US, skyscraper high taxes, sky high gas prices, insufficient military budget, and if that wasnt enough they (along with most European countries) have a declining birthrate due to the excessive taxes and costs of living making it unaffordable to have more than 1-2 kids per family. This alone will cause the entire system to eat itself in a few decades.
But youre here yapping about how the world leading superpower should follow the examples of failing countries. lolol And you heard this from a European who lives in the EU.
Really interesting channel. One of the best. Last time I travelled in the US by train was in 1995 on Amtrak. From Sacramento to San Francisco, I remember I had to take a train to Martinez and take a bus to San F. In total, a four-hour trip. I remember it was also quite expensive for the actual distance.
@0:32 - 'World's only super power." The absolute comedy you said that with a straight face.
"Outside the UK" and the horn😂😂
But a nice view of what looked like Loughborough Central on the Great Central Railway..
Kind or Ironic how UK was the one that came up with rail, yet are embarrassingly behind in terms of high speed rail and rail in general compared to the rest of the European powers like France and Germany. Even Poland has a better rail system LOL
...As HS2 is being built.
Eh, we’re just a bit behind in general at the moment. HS2 is already doomed, when 10% of the cost and double the effect could be attained by just upgrading the Midland lines it’s meant to one-up. Our high speed trains can do more than they’re limited to, we just haven’t got the infrastructure up to scratch. The U.K. has more of a freight and commuter scene than it does high-speed - we should probably focus on getting our status back after Nationalisation, Beeching, and Privatisation.
@@Racko. I'm German, and our rail system is good and there are some high speed lines where trains are running 350 km/h. France was the first European country building high speed railways. There are more kilometers than in Germany where the trains go really fast, but since France is very centralistic they leave huge parts of the country without excess to the network. A country which is doing very well lately is Spain. They offer a great service for affordable prices. And the UK... Well... At least London is connected very well with Paris, Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt and Amsterdam.
By the time California completes it first high speed rail line (if ever), Japan would have finished its next generation maglev train network. Japan figured long ago how to build high speed rail in largely mountainous country that has one of the most densely populated metro areas in the world.
only 2 routes make money one is Japan and one in French. All the rest are losers
@@Dan16673 lmao i like how you disregarded China, CHinas the biggest winner it wasnt about revinue cos its a public transport its about Economy growth numbskull
God, the cost of maglev. That's why almost nobody's built any lines. They have electronics all along the rail. I wonder what happens if water gets in.
Let's face it, Japanese technology are technically more advanced than China.
China may be building biggest and widest high speed rail network in the world, but don't forget the truth of Tiananmen Square Massacre on 4th June 1989 which the Chinese government tried all their best to cover the truth from everyone!
@@jun_suzuki42 HOW is high speed rail related to a massacre? Let's face it Japan lost their game in high speed rail as well as COVID.
High Speed rail is great.... but few of us have even Slow Speed rail.
I will tell you the most underrated reason,
Private aviation industry does have a significant hold and influence on these projects as it will definitely impact them
the construction site footage looks like there is five guys building the whole thing. And for the filmcrew they just use different machines to make it look more busy than it is.
Yeah but the're big guys.
I live in Fresno right down the street they did quite a bit of work at Clinton and Highway 99
88 billion dollars has been spent on the high-speed rail and not one foot of track has been laid yet
An engineering company in Canada has ripped us off along with the politicians in Sacramento
WHERE IS THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE?
@@markrobinson1135 Why don't you ask them?
@@jimsmith1856 that's funny
@@markrobinson1135 Nowhere near 88 billion has
been spent. California only has 21 billion budget for high speed rail. That’s why there’s no work on segments to the Bay and LA, they don’t have the money.
As a California resident, I have no clue why this line’s construction is so complicated and politically driven
It’s California. What do you expect?
Because conservatives hate public transit, and CA in general, so they are throwing a big ass decades long tantrum in order to delay it as much as possible. And that's on top of the normal cost overruns and delays that are to be expected for large construction projects in America. Also, phased construction is normal for large projects as well. It's not at all a "train to nowhere", despite what fox news and dumb youtube channels constantly say.
@@punchnazis3498 California is literally run by democrats. Your entire argument makes no sense.
@@1000rogueleader LOL he/she is just a deranged democrat , logic is beyond him/her. just look at the screen name
@The A team .
The answer to that could just be the weather, would anyone want to be homeless where there were very cold winters if they could move to warmer places.
Amazing video.
Update please on Dallas to Houston bullet train please.
The governor canceled trimming trees and cutting down trees in the hills to put the money into the train.
He said it wasn’t necessary. Last summer when the summer storms came the tree limbs that fell down broke hydro lines and started fires. Still a huge problem
I don’t even live in California and this project fills me with rage, JUST FINISH THE STINKING TRAIN 🤬😂
I live in Arizona and I need a line between Phoenix and LA like right now
fr
I'm filled with rage about anything California does.
I do live there, and it looks like the line intentionally avoids the city I live in >:(
It isn't the building of the rail that is the problem. It is all of the demolition and re-routing they have to do, that takes time. All before there is rail in sight at all.
Rail is cheap. Busting a rail line shaped smooth corridor through densely populated and built California.... Expensive and slow.
In just next year, Indonesia will have it's first HSR from Jakarta to Bandung with the distance of 142 Km in just 35 minutes.
👍👍👍👍
That's great news
And will continue to Surabaya which will add 1000km if this first project is success
I remember Indonesia picking China instead of Japan to build that line. Japan is however building a line from Mumbai to Ahmadabad. I am curious which HST will complete first - California or India.
True, but now the CCP has them by the balls like they do Malaysia.
This is something not many people know of, SNCF, the best high speed rail operator outside of Japan, came with a proposal to half the cost of the project and connect the cities better. Evidently, that was ignored.
Being from Los Angeles, I used to drive to San Diego on Friday’s to visit friends. One time I got stuck in such bad traffic took me 5 hours to get there. I traveled to Japan recently. We missed our high speed train, which would be the distance from Los Angeles to San Diego, to have another one pick us up in 30 minutes and get us there in less then 90 minutes. Man oh man it made me so upset that they don’t have these in America.
As I said in my own comment, the first critical error was for the California HSR project to try to connect LA to San Francisco in one shot, rather than building a shorter and easier connection down to San Diego and then mustering the money and population's will that came from completing that connection to make the SF connection later.
@@philipmcniel4908 makes total sense. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Have to start small
That's a ridiculous argument. The US and Japan are completely different countries, which you would know if you looked at a map. Do you have a map? Do you know how to use a map?
@@richardrose2606 It's true that the USA and Japan are completely different countries (I've argued the same point elsewhere), but there are certain very specific parts of the USA that IMO have somewhat-similar needs. I've heard horror stories of the commute between San Diego and Los Angeles, though I personally tend to access LA via the Grapevine and don't venture too far south of Whittier very often.
I think that most of the money for the train was simply stolen or spent on pork barrel spending which had little to do with the train. We have reached peak incompetence.
No, we'll never run out of stupidity, it's an inexhaustible resource.
I wish that I could believe that they have reached peak incompetence. I think they're still climbing.
The Bond issue routing is the route of the best political-fit passing through the largest cities between LA & SF. The most direct route would parallel the I-R freeway over the Grapevine (Tehachapi Mountains), up the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and over Altamont Pass to either SF, SJ and/or Oakland. So we were stuck with a longer route and more stations along the way.
The first delay came when the Union Pacific RR (one of CA's largest private landowners), along whose right-of-way the voter approved route was to have been build objected. So, we wasted time and more money on engineering consultants to realign it (1) parallel to the BNSF railway between Fresno and Bakersfield, (2) in between the the UP RR and Hwy 99 in downtown Fresno (necessitating relocating the freeway 100'+ to the east) and parallel to the BNSF Rwy north of Fresno to Madera. This increased in costs in land acquisition, consultants' fees, expensive, time delaying EIR process, etc. In Europe they built new right-of-ways in the country and then merge the new tracks on to the existing rail lines into the existing late 19th/early 20th century downtown stations.
The 2nd major delay came from the Obama Administration. Thinking it would be easier, they compelled the CA HSR Authority to begin in the San Joaquin Valley. CA was promised $6(?) billion over three allocations (the latter two as a result of Republicans opposing anything Obama wanted, by refusing to accept money to build "higher" speed rail projects in OH, Fl and WI; granted these were partial payments). So, while CA lucked out on getting more federal money, the process became highly politicized, the prospects - some ten years ago - of getting any additional money were nil, and the private sector was nowhere to be found. At this point, with the less than ideal route mandatory and knowing federal and private money would be forthcoming, I would have used all of the state bond money to build a new publicly owned right-of-way over the Tehachapis between Bakersfield and Palmdale, to HSR specifications and then turn it over to Amtrak to run its San Joaquin trains (currently Oakland to Bakersfield and Sacramento to Bakersfield) over it at 125 mph all the way to LA. Not HSR, but incrementally getting us there. It would have also complemented the $1 billion plus CA has invested in increasing capacity in BNSF's line up the valley since 1990. Building this would increase ridership, induce more frequencies on this blended route and result in more private development (e.g. mixed use high density) w/i walking distance of the various stations along the route. I.e., if you build it, they will come and use it.
Other factors increasing the costs are costs of construction materials, laws forcing higher labor costs (e.g. Davis-Bacon), the consequences of government being forced to accept the lowest bidder (limited prior experience), over reliance upon consultants, more political bickering, and the irritant consequences of design-build contracts - they do save money, but you do run into unknowns which require change orders.
I am a rail fan, geographer and a proponent of the concept, but not how it is being implemented in CA. Brightline will get its Victorville to Las Vegas line built before the first segment is completed.
Your right political crooks.
I remember Newsom saying that "You can forget about that Bullet Train cause they going to used that all the money to Help the Homeless People. well guess what happened to CA? I guess they pocket the money for them selves smg
Everyone wants things like this built. But nobody wants to pay for it, and build it near them.
You took the words right out of my mouth, man.
But well isn't US richest country on earth and California is it's richest state. Also US stole so much from Middle East and Afghanistan, oil, gas, natural resources and still u say u don't have money? Pathetic
A bullet train line is under construction near my house (in India).
It is expected to pay for itself quite soon.
designed and to be built within 6 years, including land acquisition.
Cars are a drag on economy - slow, expensive 1000kg junk. Its much safer and faster to just read a book on a train than drive.
Really says more about American weakness than it does about how useful it is.
You're right man!
Spend the money on more freeway lanes on The 5.
Two lanes in each direction is maddening.
It takes miles for a slow big rig to pass another even slower truck.
In some areas there’s enough space between NB & SB traffic to pave an additional 4 lanes.
3:36 It's good to hear that software engineers are comparatively good at estimating projects ;)
"Holy crap Jim that was $1000 lunch and you tipped $100!?!?" Yep we were consulting on the high speed rail project. Wink wink. 😉
$100 tip on a $1000 is insulting, only 10%.
lol 1k is nothing.....try 5k and its always 20% tip...you must live in a small town
@@jokers7890 Yeah I am just a lowly Midwestern pleb. I never seen big money... So it sounded good at the time.
Fun fact: the tip was actually $200
I don't come from a tipping culture. If I were to be In the US I will still not.
2050:
USA: We finished california rail project.
China: We added HS rails to 50% of Africa.
Maybe by that time there would be a HS railways connecting China to Africa
China is also the most indebted nation on Earth.
@@flennboyd6413 The Chinese Communist Party is only concerned about jobs. That is the only reason high speed rail has crisscrossed the countryside. It had nothing to do with being the best. It's about keeping unemployment low so that they aren't thrown from power.
@@mactek6033 well at least they trying to keep unemployment low which for is good, its a good thing too lift up people from poverty. I don't like CCP, they were not angels or saints but at least in the past 2 generations they managed to build China to what it is now coz of their economic reforms but also managed to lift up a huge population from poverty to middle class.
Do you think China doesn't want anything in return?
"20 billion for intercity rail" In other words, not enough money to build a single line of trivially short distance.
The Brightline from West Palm to Miami was a very nice experience. Temporarily on hold due to Covid.
Used to ride the Tri Rail from Boynton to Miami, does it still exist?
@@NCREDIBLE It does. Ends at the Miami Airport.
Lots of friends of the 'government' got rich. That's how California works.
Not only california lol
True enough ...it's a place where any city , municipal or state employee only has to appear busy to get a good job review ...and a lifetime job in the bargain . Then they take the fat pension and move to Las Vegas , Arizona or a place like Panama . Pretty good gig .
Yep.
that's how America works
lmao if you think it's unique to CA.
The problem was, this isn't corruption, although I'm sure plenty of corruption is happening, this IS the original project cost. Voters were lied to about what the project would cost to get Prop A approved. Could it have cost $70-80 billion instead of $100 billion if contractors didn't underbid and overcharge? Perhaps. But it was never going to cost anywhere near $33 billion.
I remeber back in 2008 when California put this up on the ballet. I was so hopeful and somewhat naive. I thought we where going to be the first and the best. I used to have dreams about zooming through the central valley in our high speed train.
Politicians in CA are so scammy.
I moved to CA from NY and it was a shock. Politicians in NY are dishonest but at least they think twice before talking.
In CA it was just open market for crazy schemes, lying in broad daylight.
No argument from this corner.
Soon enough, you will be able to zoom through the central valley in highspeed train. But, you'll have to drive to the central valley first.
It’s going to be a high speed rail from Fresno to Madeira.
@Primordial Fantasies Exactly. And don't forget mass shootings.
Thank you
I dont understand why people won't switch to cars. They just need to sit inside and that's it. Can sleep, work or watch some movies or do nothing and look outside as opposed to keeping eyes on road all the time when driving.
God I'm so relieved that Germany isn't the only country that's plagued with never-completed train projects (lookin at you Stuttgart)
Haha I feel you. But transportation in germany is stil way better then in the us
Still, germany has one of the best transportation in the world
Or another example.
"Switzerland feels like it is being fooled
The Swiss Confederation is being thwarted. It has built the Lötschberg and Gotthard, but the German side has not kept its promise. The Rhine Valley railroad will be four-lane by 2042 at the earliest."
www.nzz.ch/wirtschaft/ausgebremste-eisenbahn-ld.1317539
BER took so long to be built and looks like I’ve been transported to the 1980s. Congrats though lol.
Not only looking at the S21 in Stuttgart - but also Berlin has it's very own S21-problem (and yes, it's indeed called S21, as for the S-Bahn-Line 21)
Let's just hope the line between Dallas and Houston in Texas doesn't end up as disastrous as the line in California.
Fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞😬😬😬
The reality is that the one in Texas would probably get low riders. Dallas and Houston don’t have subway syestems at all and it doesn’t seem like Texans will give up their cars as Dallas has the largest light rail networks but has some of the lowest ridership per mile. Another issue is that Dallas and Houston sprawl out very far. People who drive probably won’t stop and it’s not like Dallas to Houston is a popular air route. I could easily see the Texas project being a bad example.
@@G-546 Perhaps, but think about what happened to our cities when the interstate highways were built: massive suburban sprawl. I can definitely see a slow start for the Texas project that gradually becomes more and more popular over the years as development forms around public transit and hi-speed rail. If you build it, they will come.
Besides, if I lived in one of those cities and there was hi-speed rail that could whisk me to the other city, I'd gladly drive to the train station and switch over from the car. And that's despite the fact that I generally like driving :)
IIRC Dallas-Houston is 100% entrepreneurial: either they keep an eye on their budget, or they go belly-up.
@@duncanmcauley9450 the issue is that high speed rail is a high capacity syestem. Although some would ride in Texas it may not be enough
@@G-546 they do have Uber in those cities.
We'll have flying cars by the time this money pit train is done
Every time I see a lane being added to a freeway, I ask, "why isn't this a rail line being added". If the funding and environmental impacts can be achieved for a freeway, why not for a train that will use a fraction of the fossil fuels?
The US' problems in cities, traffic flow and general livability are all always connect to their overreliance on their cars.
Americans when presented with methods to mitigate those problems; ''we dont do that here''
well we did it’s just politicians let big oil and all the big auto companies buy up all our public transit and ran them to the ground and basically forced the entire country to be car dependent
Well, cars allow freedom to go to and fro. Could and should have more transportation, but I don't think that having an overreliance on cars aren't bad, just the traffic is
@@SquidCena this freedom is really more of an illusion if you ask me. You still need a road and if the state can build those there really isn‘t any good reason why he can‘t also build rail and/or operate buses on the roads.
In Switzerland you have a very similar freedom to go from anyplace to anywhere using public transport.
@@bbbbb702 If its better why not ?
@@bbbbb702 Yeah i rather stuck in traffic with other people
2029 is a joke for one section. Its like hs2 in the uk, high speed rail is so important it should be built as quickly as possible, i just dont get why goverments dont do it
Perhaps
Planning restrictions, buying land and environmental concerns amongst other things slow it down a lot and increase costs to a crazy amount
California NIMBYs are among the most intransigent in the world.
Okay
at least HS2 is moreso just supporting the slower high speed rail links, the ECML and WCML
We arrived in California Central Valley in 2015 when construction started, and there was talk that it would take about 10 years to get done, but I don’t see enough progress to reach that goal. We lived in Fresno for about five years and now further north. Most people in the Central Valley say it will never be completed. I hope they are wrong.
It might not be finished by 2030
@@heidirabenau511 I highly doubt it will be done by then either. They should have started in San Francisco and just focused on reaching Fresno and just worked on one small route, but instead you see construction going both ways out of Fresno, south towards Bakersfield and north toward Sacramento. 🙄
Big car and 330 million people who love their cars, literally more than the environment, more than their children, did this.
They should call it a freeway, say they’re building a freeway, collect land like a federal freeway authority could, and then use the “freeway” to finish the high speed rail project
So what is that way?
You think freeways are not plagued by underfunding, cost overrun, and delays? Look at the highway quality...
@@davidfreeman3083 they definitely are, but they always seem to get more money earmarked by state when they are because they are "essential" or whatever.
@@Norfirio Yeah It is sure!
There hasn't been a new freeway here in California in generations.
when the Chinese build infrastructure, its for the long term prospect
when the Americans build infrastructure, its prospect is long term
The American dream is an individualistic dream...The Chinese dream is the people's dream, it is the dream of serving the people"
@@ststst981 That's some CCP propaganda right there.
@@tams805 whatever it’s propaganda or not, the fact is that they actually did this for its ppl. Look at US for the pass 3 decades,only war...
We germans used the BR Airport as a joke when it comes to taking time to build something. Guess America has cracked that one... Which isn't really a compliment
stuttgart 21
I took the two day drive on Highway 1 along the Pacific coast, and it was amazing! But not practical.
Meanwhile, China opened its first highspeed line in 2008, currently has 38,000 km (24,000 miles) and plans on having 70,000 km (43,000 miles) in 2035.
there government doesn’t invest for profit but to serve people! they think the economy mobilizes by the railroad is enough to pay the investment indirectly
its cheap in china to make highspeed line
Would you trade a 'Democracy' for a China style of government? There's your answer.
@@smhdpt12 don't worry, there's freedom to carry guns on US train.......
pretty scary...
@@smhdpt12 well that’s a real question, would you trade fake democracy for enlightened despotism
I do find it funny how the country who pioneered the great race to connect east and west via rail is 'culturally opposed' to rail.
You are right
Gotta blame Automotive Corp dominance in the 50s-70s for that
They really pushed for more Cars than rails
A rising superpower always starts with the construction of the great railway network system. The UK, the US and now China.
They are only "Culturally Opposed" to things that make them look "culturally opposed". Thats the whole point eh? "I care! is anyone noticing how much i care yet? *throws brick* "
@Robert XYZ If you actually read about the construction of the first intercontinental railroad, you might change your mind. The working conditions were appalling, even for the day, and countless people died needlessly. Also, the Chinese workers were taken advantage of in an especially egregious fashion. Never been a union member myself, but still... It was different back then. Worse.
When I was born the United States had the largest passenger rail network in the world. Whether you were going to the opposite coast or simply twenty miles to the city for a day of shopping, you took a train. We made a conscious and intentional effort to expand travel by automobile in the Fifties and airline in the Sixties and Seventies. Along the way, all those now unused tracks were ripped up and worse, the ROW were sold off. Where the tracks once lay, we now have schools, shopping centers, hospitals, and many, many highways; millions of homes, too. One of the largest costs in California's boondoggle has been legal and environmental battles over ROW, and that won't be limited to California. We killed what we once had, and there's no going back.
If the tracks were dismantled to build the highways, can the opposite be done as well?
when im driving north on 101 near laytonville, ca I look to the east to see rusty old derailed train cars sideways on the tracks in the redwood forest that I first noticed as a kid. It seems that the train derailed and they decided to not bother with the railway to Eureka anymore.
People will still choose a 90 minute flight over a 4 hour train ride. This project does not make sense.
Everybody will cry about how long it takes to build and how expensive it is, but when it is in use everybody will love it.
Only if it's ever constructed
We need an Autobahn. High speed rails has too much upfront cost and people want their car on the other side. This works in poorer countries when few have cars. Not here though.
@@rexmann1984 America doesn't maintain its roads well enough for Autobahn standards. Last time I checked there were no "poor" countries with high speed rail.
I once saw a video about the first Japanese high-speed rail in the 1960s. It was also about exploding costs, delays, lots of criticism and people lost their jobs over this. Now it's a symbol of national pride in Japan, and hardly anyone remembers the drama back then.
@@Bellabong I said poorer... Europe is poorer than the US so is China. Do the Saudis have high speed rail? Kuwait? No, of course not. It's for people poorer than us.
Never understood American disapproval of the trains. I love trains, and here in Europe it is very important for long distance travel. High speed or not.
European long distance is usually not American long distance. As a European, it's often hard to realize just how big the US is. Just some examples:
- Rome is closer to Warsaw than Los Angeles is to Seattle
- Athens is closer to Frankfurt than New York is to Miami
- Lissabon is closer to Moscow than Los Angeles is to New York
Quite often i have travelled through many European countries on a day in a train, but in the US, i would have still remained in the same state with the equivalent distance.
@@jekyllhirsi1009 Long Distance in Europe is literally anything further than you can walk.
Europe has mountainous terrains with cities close to one another; trains are effective for that.
US has mostly flat and wide terrains, cities far apart. Cars are better for that.
@@culturecanvas777 wat, did you honestly just say that mountainous terrain is better for trains than cars
@@culturecanvas777 cars drive at 130km/h over flat terrain. Trains can do double without breaking a sweat
Will there be an update? From what I read some of the necessary steps had been accomplished, and also the build of the brightline from greater Los Angeles area to Las Vegas seems to be ready to start construction soon?
In the 90s Amtrak rented a German ICE high speed train for testing.
They found that it worked great, but their track sucked.
Too many tight corners, ridiculously bad construction quality (the train "jumped around" on uneven rails)
Sad to say, but the U.S. no longer seems capable of designing and building ANY large infrastructure project on time and within budget.
Right, because you are making a generalization based on a government project in one state out of 50 states. Take a look at the progress Brightline in South Florida has done with their "higher" speed line.
@@akivaplutno Well brightline is private. Which a lot of ppl don't even know now that the market and the private sector is capable of that.
It's about the confidence of nations. The US was wounded by the OPEC oil embargos in 1973 and 1979 and then castrated on September 11, 2001. And 'free markets' have proven themselves useless.
Goddamn Labor Unions
California's Project isn't private owned, Brightline and others like Amtrak and the TX project are private owned and can bypass this nonsense of a government greed and delays stopping their megaprojects
the answer: politicians. it was supposed to be cheap, fast, low emissions alternative and now its expensive, slow, high emissions, incomplete, over budget and overdue.
How is it high emission?
@@Marco-hl6gz by putting ICE machineries in place for additional 10 years when it was supposed to be done by 2020
@@Marco-hl6gz politicans have overpromised so train does not take the optimum direct route, adding something like 60 extra miles to its constuction. on top of it it uses so much concrete and steel during construction it would take about 50-80 years in order to negate all of the greenhouse gasses emitted during the construction.
That's the government at work.
no mate, the problem is car manufacturers, and tire corporations who have manipulated the american people into buying more and more cars, have destroyed american cities with enormous highways, intersections and enormous parking lots and sprawling suburbia, so that they'd be more accessible by car, not foot, not train, not trolley, not bus nor any other form of transportation that isn't a car. The american people mistrust trains because corporations wanted a profit.
We need more aircraft carriers, tanks and submarines. We can't waste our money on frivolous projects like these.
The mapping of the Brightline West clip @ 7:10 was the most batshit way to illustrate that imaginable. 'What if we made south north?'
If only things were as easy as when the interstate freeway system was built.
The president at the time wanted it done and it got done despite some of the same obstacles that face the high speed rail system. The problem with high speed rail in the US is lobbies. The lobbies that influence politicians and people alike. Still, if the president/government wants it to be done, it can be done.
@@muazqamar I believe it’s government waste and incompetence.
@@muazqamar I don't see how lobbying inhibited this at all. The real problem is that this is the modern day and we have worker safety and environmental protection and land rights laws that we in the US adhere to. China doesn't really need to follow these principles, which plays a major role in how they built up there infrastructure so quickly.
Here in nyc, no new subway tunnels are being built, and the latest one cost 20x more per mile, adjusted for inflation, than it did a century ago, because of these regulations, and also because nyc can't afford to shut down traffic in it's urban center to perform loud construction, especially on billionaires row. I'm not saying that laws that protect property rights and workers safety and the environment are bad, but they, along with the unacceptably of having our lives disrupted by highway closures and loud construction, do make constructing things more expensive in the "first world" than they used to be
@@artiew8718 Couldn't agree more
@@optimisticnihlist9705 Big oil and auto manufacturing lobbyists fight any movement towards high-speed rail. On top of the fact that LA county and California state governments are well known to be corrupt and money-hungry.
The saddest thing about being American is when you first go to countries with decent rail infrastructure and you see how great things COULD be
Well... you once had a great railway network, but to boost capitalist and individualist ideology, the US Federal Government defunded Amtrak and developed more highways and car friendly infrastructure. The results are noticable up until today, where Florida‘s governor rejected gifted money by the Fed. Gov. to build a highspeed railway connection between Miami and Orlando [because trains are apparently socialism (my interpretation)]
We have something like that in America, its called Bart and it SUCKS!
So, that's the saddest thing u got? How about your government spending you out of existence & attempting to create a Russian- style Communist state out of the rubble.
@@kkon5ti I see you dislike individualism, you like being a bug? being a pawn in another mans game?
Oh and BTW, Florida already has its higher speed rail DONE. All payed for by evil capitalism. By that evil company called BrightLine. They’re already finishing up on the Orlando extension and are gonna be starting the route to the Tampa Bay Area, and Jacksonville next year. So aaaa ya.
The ironic thing about what you said, is its actually socialism that’s the problem. On top of government bureaucracy, corrupt politicians and 1 party democrat rule for over 30 years that is stopping it.
Ben, hmm why do you say that? You make it sound like we have no way to travel quickly between cities. Our aircraft system works great.
I think the question should be, “What went wrong with California?” period.
It is the left wing politicians that the stupid voters of California voted into office.
corrupted democrats, that what is wrong with California
5:05 Bottom picture of LA, I look at the observatory and all I can hear is "Daveyyy! How ya doin'"
How are they so bad at this? Really, I don't understand... Whole world is already past the learning curve. What's wrong with them?
Lobbying by oil industry.
Politics and corruption
diversity
@@frankjoyce76 what the hell do you mean diversity? France and Germany are one of the most diverse places on earth but we have perfectly fine systems. The only thing specific to the us is corruption and oil car lobbying
@@frankjoyce76 wouldn't diversity make it easier, they'd be used to traveling by train boosting numbers and they could be there to build the railway.
It's lobbying etc. that's caused this, they are probably the same lobbyists who scapegoated migrants to you, for their industries failings.
The Las Vegas to Victorville line would be the smartest, insane amounts of people go between LA and Las Vegas. Also you don’t need a car in Vegas so people wouldn’t be put off by not having their cars with them
By the time most people from L.A. drive to Victorville, they might as well keep going to Vegas. They've already spent half their time on the road just getting out of L.A. This train needs to be from L.A. or Anaheim to Las Vegas.
@@exrobowidow1617 That's the problem. the high-speed trains can't get up the Cajon Pass.
@@williamwingo4740 Yes they can. Other trains can as well and high speed trains can climb higher grades then most as all wheels are powered.
They were talking about this 10 years ago.
Hyperloop is dumb. I really hope that California manages to build this high speed rail line. And maybe they dont need to build a "real high speed line. What about doing like we do in Sweden? A more curvy line with train sets like the X2000, that can handle such curviture, would be a cheaper and easier option, although not as fast
The Maryland high speed rail project is actually a maglev. It is presently proposed to run from Mount Vernon Square west of downtown Washington DC to Westport on the south side of Middle Branch of the Patapsco River south of downtown Baltimore.
Meanwhile Japan’s connecting their whole country with bullet trains and debuting a 500 km/h Maglev soon.
Edit: 500 km/h = 310 mph roughly.
*High speed rail is INCONSISTANT with American culture.* The Japanese decided it makes sense for them. Good for them. It does not make sense for most Americans.
@@thomasg4324 perfectly stated.
@@thomasg4324 The drive from NorCal to SoCal is annoying because there’s pretty much nothing in between. I would use a rail line almost 100% of the time if there was one.
I went to Amtrak and checked: Leaving Tuesday June 14 from Sacramento, and arriving in Los Angeles..... $60 each way. *Scenic window view included.*
Japan is more densely populated. It works there. It would not here.
"If you enjoyed this video...." As a matter of fact, I did not enjoy this video. It's a great video, extremely well done. But as a born and raised Californian, there's no way to enjoy anything about our high speed folly. Why are we so shit at this??
Govt regulations and intervention into the private sector. Remove all govt regulations and watch the high speed rail system thrive in America
Democrat conceived, overseen, and funded. You take a guess…
@@bob494949 I don't see what the political party has to do with it. It's not like it is going so much better in Florida or Texas.
@@musclee-mac8768 not fully, but I'd agree the environment analysis which according to the video was taking a long time could be stripped down to only safety considerations.
What needs to happen is stringent recycling on a ground level. Recycling is a joke in America.
The answer is rather simple really, as the presenter said, lack of funding, especially government funding. Just look at all the ‘success stories’, e.g. China, Europe, Japan and others. All of them had strong government funding and long term support. You are looking at a 100-billion-dollar project with a break-even decades away. No single company or state can handle this kind of undertaking without consistent federal support.
OR you can take Amtrak from San Francisco and Los Angeles, it takes 10 hours because of all the stops but goes down the coast and is beautiful and relaxing.
7:25 Mexico: Hello, amigo.