Today's news as reported by the AP in the Daily Journal and elsewhere is the Assembly's move to reign in the High-cost Rail Authority.
The Assembly voted 50-16 Friday to place the rail project under a new Department of High-Speed Trains within the existing Business, Transportation and Housing Agency…..Democratic Assemblywoman Cathleen Galgiani, of Livingston, said her AB145 would ensure sufficient oversight of the project, intended to link San Francisco with Los Angeles and Anaheim at speeds of up to 220 mph.
Sounds good right, but then she goes on to respond to another Assemblywoman with
“Don’t fool yourself that you are going to get money from the federal government” beyond the roughly $3.5 billion already awarded, said Harkey. “The private market is not going to come forward until a route is profitable.”
The high-speed rail system in France runs with a profit margin of 25 percent and the one on Japan at 50 percent, Galgiani responded.
Wrong. Wrong, Wrong. Not only is that ridiculous on its face, but check out this recent piece in The Economist where they note
The sole reason why Shinkansen plying the Tokaido route make money is the sheer density—and affluence—of the customers they serve. All the other Shinkansen routes in Japan lose cart-loads of cash, as high-speed trains do elsewhere in the world. Only indirect subsidies, creative accounting, political patronage and national chest-thumping keep them rolling.
Galgiani must know this, and if she doesn't, she's not doing her job!
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