3 ms·

This is honestly just a dumb urban legend. SNCF wanted to run a route down I-5 which is highly problematic and would not have accomplished the goals of the proj

This is honestly just a dumb urban legend. SNCF wanted to run a route down I-5 which is highly problematic and would not have accomplished the goals of the project. After tossing around their politically impossible ideas for a few minutes, they went and did something else. CAHSR engaged Spanish civil engineering firms Dragados and Ferrovial instead. There is only one skill that is important for building CAHSR and that is navigating the multiplicity of overlapping governments at the federal, state, county, and city levels and plotting a course through CEQA and America's ridiculous common law system to reach the end of the project. SNCF might have experience building railroads but honestly anyone can build a railroad and SNCF brings nothing relevant to such a project.

pas 2y ago
why is it problematic? could it be on a raised platform?
- jeffbee 2y ago
  The law only permits the bond proceeds to be spent on designated routes. To accommodate this, the French fantasy plan needed long spurs across the San Joaquin Valley. This would have required more guideways overall, more parcel acquisitions, more waterway crossings, and generally higher costs. It would also have tripled the travel time between Fresno and other major cities, which would have sunk popular support for the project since millions of people would have correctly perceived it as serving only SF and LA.
lmm 2y ago
The engineering side is probably not completely trivial, but be that as it may. Nothing that you've said contradicts the point that SNCF were able to go to Morocco and build a comparable HSR system that's been in revenue service for 5+ years now, while the US has failed to build anything due to political dysfunction.
- jeffbee 2y ago
  But that's exactly my point. The skill needed to build hsr in America is navigating the layers of the federal system and avoiding the roadblocks of common law. SNCF doesn't have this skill. Literally any civil engineering firm can build a railroad through a desert under a totalitarian regime.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]

pas 2y ago

why is it problematic? could it be on a raised platform?

jeffbee 2y ago
The law only permits the bond proceeds to be spent on designated routes. To accommodate this, the French fantasy plan needed long spurs across the San Joaquin Valley. This would have required more guideways overall, more parcel acquisitions, more waterway crossings, and generally higher costs. It would also have tripled the travel time between Fresno and other major cities, which would have sunk popular support for the project since millions of people would have correctly perceived it as serving only SF and LA.

lmm 2y ago

The engineering side is probably not completely trivial, but be that as it may. Nothing that you've said contradicts the point that SNCF were able to go to Morocco and build a comparable HSR system that's been in revenue service for 5+ years now, while the US has failed to build anything due to political dysfunction.

jeffbee 2y ago
But that's exactly my point. The skill needed to build hsr in America is navigating the layers of the federal system and avoiding the roadblocks of common law. SNCF doesn't have this skill. Literally any civil engineering firm can build a railroad through a desert under a totalitarian regime.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]