Not so friendly reminder that musk specifically came up with, and pushed, for hyperloop knowing that it would never be made, as an effort to stop the development of highspeed rail in America and shift all political discussions of it because “something better is around the corner”:

As I’ve written in my book, Musk admitted to his biographer Ashlee Vance that Hyperloop was all about trying to get legislators to cancel plans for high-speed rail in California—even though he had no plans to build it. Several years ago, Musk said that public transit was “a pain in the ass” where you were surrounded by strangers, including possible serial killers, to justify his opposition.

source: new york times

Also: 2024 update, the total length of China’s high-speed rail tracks has now reached well over 45,000 km, or 28,000 miles, by the end of 2023.

They are additionally five years ahead of schedule and expect to double the total number within ten years. And, before someone inevitably complains about “how expensive it is”, they are turning over a net-profit of over $600M USD a year.

Via

  • mondoman712English
    8·
    23 days ago

    Source on the $500 billion?

    And governments don’t need to find money to fund capital projects. The US government can print money. They can effectively borrow money against the future economic growth that the project will provide, which is an easy bet with projects like this.

      • mondoman712English
        3·
        22 days ago

        The IOS is projected to commence revenue service as a self-contained high-speed rail system between 2030-2033, at a cost of $28–35 billion, and will replace current San Joaquins service south of Merced.

        From the top of the page you linked. I see no reference to $130b.

        The federal government can also fund infrastructure projects in states.

        • Cryophilia@lemmy.worldEnglish
          11·
          22 days ago

          The IOS is one portion of the initial 1/3 of the entire HSR.

          Cost estimates have increased significantly since program inception. In the first business plan of 2008, the cost estimate for civil construction of the Merced-Bakersfield section, now termed the IOS, was $6.2 billion ($8.6 billion in 2023 dollars).[113] The same scope of work was projected to be $30.5 billion in 2024.[15][8][l] The initial 2008 total cost estimate for Phase 1, developed by consultants WSP USA for the Authority and presented to voters, was $33 billion ($46.2 billion in 2023 dollars),[114] and the project would be completed in 2020.[115] At that time, when the project was voted on in Proposition 1A, the alignment was not specified yet and no major engineering had been undertaken to inform those estimates. By 2024, this forecast had risen to $106.2 billion.

          Look under the table titled “2024 capital cost estimates for full Phase 1” for the $128bn estimate for phase 1

          • mondoman712English
            2·
            22 days ago

            full phase 1 != the IOS. The IOS is predicted to be $28–35 billion. The full phase 1, which is SF and Merced to Anaheim, and also most of the entire network, is predicted to be $128bn (as per your quote).

                • Cryophilia@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  1·
                  22 days ago

                  There are 3 phases to the project. The least expensive phase is estimated at $130bn ish. $500bn for the whole thing is a fair guesstimate.

                  • mondoman712English
                    1·
                    22 days ago

                    • Merced to Bakersfield is the initial operation segment, that is estimated to cost $28–35 billion, as per your link. This is the cheapest phase that you are referring to.

                    • Phase 1 adds the segments to SF and Anaheim. This is projected to cost $130 billion.

                    • Phase 2 adds segments to San Diego and Sacramento. These are a long way off and I haven’t seen any cost estimates for it, but as you can see it doesn’t triple the length of the system.

                    • There is no Phase 3 in the official design.