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This may be one of the best (worst) examples of how bad things are today. The California High-Speed Rail was funded over 15 years ago and they haven't begun bu

This may be one of the best (worst) examples of how bad things are today. The California High-Speed Rail was funded over 15 years ago and they haven't begun building it yet. They are 82% of the way through their environmental studies. https://hsr.ca.gov/about/capital-costs-funding/ https://hsr.ca.gov/about/capital-costs-funding/ https://twitter.com/cahsra/status/1674900759677227012 https://twitter.com/cahsra/status/1674900759677227012

jonny_eh 3y ago
> environmental studies There's your answer. It's one of the biggest reasons why it's so hard to build infrastructure and housing, even for green projects like wind farms.
- stocknoob 3y ago
  I wonder if the environmental studies account for the impact of using cars and planes for 15 years instead of trains.
fragmede 3y ago
It may delight you to know, then, that they've started building, and in fact they've built a bunch of stuff for it already! As of March 2023, 50 miles of guideway are complete, 39 are underway; 41 structures are complete, and 29 are underway¹. Some of the completed structures include: - The Cedar Viaduct, a 3,700-foot-long bridge over State Route 99 in Fresno, which features a signature double arch design². - The Hanford Viaduct, a 3,300-foot-long bridge over the Kings River and State Route 43 in Kings County, which is the longest structure in Construction Package 2-3²⁴. - The San Joaquin River Viaduct, a 4,700-foot-long bridge over the San Joaquin River and North Avenue in Fresno County, which includes a pergola structure to allow future trains to cross over the existing BNSF Railway tracks²³. - The Tuolumne Street Bridge, a two-way bridge that spans the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and future high-speed rail tracks in downtown Fresno²³. - The Fresno Trench and State Route 180 Passageway, a two-mile-long trench that will carry high-speed trains under several streets in Fresno, including State Route 180²³. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_California_Hig.... [2] https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project-update-report/ https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project.... [3] https://hsr.ca.gov/2023/05/11/video-release-high-speed-rail-releases-spring-2023-construction-update/ https://hsr.ca.gov/2023/05/11/video-release-high-speed-rail-.... [4] https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article275284756.html https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article...
- dang 3y ago
  > What are you talking about? Please edit swipes like that out of your HN posts, as the site guidelines request: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    Fixed, thanks.
    - dang 3y ago
      Appreciated!
- rsync 3y ago
  "It may delight you to know, then, that they've started building ..." Unfortunately, "high speed" is a misnomer. This would have been high speed rail had it been deployed before 1990. At this time it is just "rail" and when it is finished we will be back where we started: 40-ish years behind the state of the art with a product inferior to other modes of travel. Disclaimer: I want very badly for a real HSR between SF and LA[1] and am deeply disappointed at the - sometimes comical - concessions and degradations that have accompanied this project since day one. [1] Non-stop express service in less than 120 minutes.
gowld 3y ago
Initial funding was 15 years ago. Construction funds weren't approved until 2013 when construction contracts started to be awarded. Construction began in 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Spe... https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project-update-report/chapter-4/ https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project... "Progress continues across the 171 miles under construction and development in the Central Valley, including more than 30 active construction sites and 69 structures or grade separation projects either underway or completed."

jonny_eh 3y ago

> environmental studies There's your answer. It's one of the biggest reasons why it's so hard to build infrastructure and housing, even for green projects like wind farms.

stocknoob 3y ago
I wonder if the environmental studies account for the impact of using cars and planes for 15 years instead of trains.

fragmede 3y ago

It may delight you to know, then, that they've started building, and in fact they've built a bunch of stuff for it already! As of March 2023, 50 miles of guideway are complete, 39 are underway; 41 structures are complete, and 29 are underway¹. Some of the completed structures include: - The Cedar Viaduct, a 3,700-foot-long bridge over State Route 99 in Fresno, which features a signature double arch design². - The Hanford Viaduct, a 3,300-foot-long bridge over the Kings River and State Route 43 in Kings County, which is the longest structure in Construction Package 2-3²⁴. - The San Joaquin River Viaduct, a 4,700-foot-long bridge over the San Joaquin River and North Avenue in Fresno County, which includes a pergola structure to allow future trains to cross over the existing BNSF Railway tracks²³. - The Tuolumne Street Bridge, a two-way bridge that spans the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and future high-speed rail tracks in downtown Fresno²³. - The Fresno Trench and State Route 180 Passageway, a two-mile-long trench that will carry high-speed trains under several streets in Fresno, including State Route 180²³. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Construction_of_California_Hig.... [2] https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project-update-report/ https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project.... [3] https://hsr.ca.gov/2023/05/11/video-release-high-speed-rail-releases-spring-2023-construction-update/ https://hsr.ca.gov/2023/05/11/video-release-high-speed-rail-.... [4] https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article275284756.html https://www.fresnobee.com/news/local/high-speed-rail/article...

dang 3y ago
> What are you talking about? Please edit swipes like that out of your HN posts, as the site guidelines request: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html. Your comment would be just fine without that bit.
- fragmede 3y ago
  Fixed, thanks.
  - dang 3y ago
    Appreciated!
rsync 3y ago
"It may delight you to know, then, that they've started building ..." Unfortunately, "high speed" is a misnomer. This would have been high speed rail had it been deployed before 1990. At this time it is just "rail" and when it is finished we will be back where we started: 40-ish years behind the state of the art with a product inferior to other modes of travel. Disclaimer: I want very badly for a real HSR between SF and LA[1] and am deeply disappointed at the - sometimes comical - concessions and degradations that have accompanied this project since day one. [1] Non-stop express service in less than 120 minutes.

gowld 3y ago

Initial funding was 15 years ago. Construction funds weren't approved until 2013 when construction contracts started to be awarded. Construction began in 2015. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Speed_Rail https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_California_High-Spe... https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project-update-report/chapter-4/ https://hsr.ca.gov/about/project-update-reports/2023-project... "Progress continues across the 171 miles under construction and development in the Central Valley, including more than 30 active construction sites and 69 structures or grade separation projects either underway or completed."