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French Company Helping California High Speed-Rail Project Left for North Africa

28 points by mpweiher 4y ago

Baljhin 4y ago
The original title (shortened on HN due to its character length restriction) is more interesting - and provocative: > [A company hoping to help California with its high-speed rail built one in North Africa instead, saying the region was ‘less politically dysfunctional’] > A French state-owned railroad operator wanted to help California with its high-speed rail project. > The company left after the state refused to listen to its recommendations.
- last_responder 4y ago
  My company has to deal with California for the purposes of sub-metering water use. I understand their pain.
- malermeister 4y ago
  They also seem to have a data point backing up that claim: > Within 7 years, they built a functioning high-speed rail system in Morocco, the New York Times reported.
kevingadd 4y ago
Interesting to note that according to a 2017 biography, Hyperloop was created to sabotage that high-speed rail project: > At the time, it seemed that Musk had dished out the Hyperloop proposal just to make the public and legislators rethink the high-speed train. He didn’t actually intend to build the thing. It was more that he wanted to show people that more creative ideas were out there for things that might actually solve problems and push the state forward. With any luck, the high-speed rail would be canceled. Musk said as much to me [Ashlee Vance] during a series of e-mails and phone calls leading up to the announcement. “Down the road, I might fund or advise on a Hyperloop project, but right now I can’t take my eye off the ball at either SpaceX or Tesla,” he wrote. https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-california-high-spee-1849402460 https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-cali... Though personally I think the rail project was doomed with or without the intervention of opponents, due to everyone sabotaging it by adding extra stops etc. Public transit projects in California in general seem doomed to fail due to how interest groups interfere with them - I know in Sacramento (my home town) a modest attempt to expand public light rail to my community college was delayed for years and years due to all sorts of meddling.
- panick21_ 4y ago
  Musk Hyperloop had 0 effect on California HSR, I have no idea why people bring this up sometimes as if it mattered. Calling this an 'intervention' is a bit silly.
  - tetris11 4y ago
    can you expand on this
    - panick21_ 4y ago
      I'm not sure what to expand on. Musk released a PDF and gave some interviews, some people talked about it. It had absolutely zero impact on the government, it changed nothing about the plans for HSR in California. There was not even a single government hearing about it as far as I know. There was at that point no company that lobbied for it. There were no politicians coming out against HSR in favor of Hyperloop.
Doctor_Fegg 4y ago
“A company”? It’s SNCF, the fricking French national railway. If you can navigate the French state as a matter of course but throw your hands up at California… that really says something.
altano 4y ago
What is with the URL on this story? https://www.businessinsider.com/french-california-high-speed-rail-north-africa-biden-trump-2022-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/french-california-high-speed... biden? trump?

28 points by mpweiher 4y ago

The original title (shortened on HN due to its character length restriction) is more interesting - and provocative: > [A company hoping to help California with its high-speed rail built one in North Africa instead, saying the region was ‘less politically dysfunctional’] > A French state-owned railroad operator wanted to help California with its high-speed rail project. > The company left after the state refused to listen to its recommendations.

last_responder 4y ago
My company has to deal with California for the purposes of sub-metering water use. I understand their pain.
malermeister 4y ago
They also seem to have a data point backing up that claim: > Within 7 years, they built a functioning high-speed rail system in Morocco, the New York Times reported.

kevingadd 4y ago

Interesting to note that according to a 2017 biography, Hyperloop was created to sabotage that high-speed rail project: > At the time, it seemed that Musk had dished out the Hyperloop proposal just to make the public and legislators rethink the high-speed train. He didn’t actually intend to build the thing. It was more that he wanted to show people that more creative ideas were out there for things that might actually solve problems and push the state forward. With any luck, the high-speed rail would be canceled. Musk said as much to me [Ashlee Vance] during a series of e-mails and phone calls leading up to the announcement. “Down the road, I might fund or advise on a Hyperloop project, but right now I can’t take my eye off the ball at either SpaceX or Tesla,” he wrote. https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-california-high-spee-1849402460 https://jalopnik.com/did-musk-propose-hyperloop-to-stop-cali... Though personally I think the rail project was doomed with or without the intervention of opponents, due to everyone sabotaging it by adding extra stops etc. Public transit projects in California in general seem doomed to fail due to how interest groups interfere with them - I know in Sacramento (my home town) a modest attempt to expand public light rail to my community college was delayed for years and years due to all sorts of meddling.

panick21_ 4y ago
Musk Hyperloop had 0 effect on California HSR, I have no idea why people bring this up sometimes as if it mattered. Calling this an 'intervention' is a bit silly.
- tetris11 4y ago
  can you expand on this
  - panick21_ 4y ago
    I'm not sure what to expand on. Musk released a PDF and gave some interviews, some people talked about it. It had absolutely zero impact on the government, it changed nothing about the plans for HSR in California. There was not even a single government hearing about it as far as I know. There was at that point no company that lobbied for it. There were no politicians coming out against HSR in favor of Hyperloop.

Doctor_Fegg 4y ago

“A company”? It’s SNCF, the fricking French national railway. If you can navigate the French state as a matter of course but throw your hands up at California… that really says something.

altano 4y ago

What is with the URL on this story? https://www.businessinsider.com/french-california-high-speed-rail-north-africa-biden-trump-2022-10 https://www.businessinsider.com/french-california-high-speed... biden? trump?