CHSRA-Apologist Website
Dumps on LA Times
07/10/12 Filed in: High-Speed
Rail
Robert Cruickshank, a
leading (paid?) apologist for the California
High-Speed Rail Authority, wrote a
blog post trashing the LA Times SNCF
story and its reporter, which generated hundreds of
comments, including many suggesting that the I-5
route deserved a closer look. TRANSDEF posted this
comment:
Robert’s take-down of the messenger (LAT) misses
the point entirely. SNCF presented a proposal in
conjunction with a U.S. investment bank that was
willing to finance the entire LA-SF line. This was
a project that made enough business sense to
them–it minimized costs while optimally serving the
primary market–that they were willing to accept
full ridership risk.Had the Authority been seriously committed to
building its project, it would have conducted a
bidding process, hired an international consortium,
and would now be using the ARRA funds to build an
I-5 alignment.For reasons that appear contrary to the public
interest, The Authority covered up this offer in
its 2012 Business Plan, instead insisting that no
private capital would be willing to invest until
the first high-speed line showed a profit. In other
words, the entire plan is based on a lie. It calls
for the State to take on the full cost of building
a line to LA, without any private money and without
a prayer of any additional federal support.The $6 billion Central Valley project approved last
week by the Legislature exposes the State to
unlimited operating losses, and worse yet, no way
forward to a statewide system. That’s just what a
take-the-money-and-run scam would look like.Go ahead and rant all you want. I can’t see how you
can call yourself an HSR advocate if you’d rather
have 130 miles of unconnected track in the Central
Valley than a working HSR system.