More accurately, I'm going to be talking about the California High Speed Rail.
Proposed in 2008 and approved in 2012, this rail is to begin operating to some degree in 8 to 11 years. It runs all the way from Sacramento in NorCal to San Diego in SoCal. It is to cost approximately 55 billion dollars to build, create 100,000 jobs, and bring in 2.23 billion in net revenue by 2023.
Needless to say, this is an ambitious project. America is currently lagging behind most other developed countries in terms of these mechanisms, and this rail will likely become America's first dedicated high-speed rail system (The Acela Express on the East Coast doesn't count as it is not a dedicated system).
I am quite excited for these developments as a person living in SoCal. Infrastructure projects of this type are sorely overdue in America, and are needed if we wish to keep up with our friends overseas in Asia and Europe. While it may take a while, I'm hopeful that this project will bring great good to my state and community.
Of course, there are some critics of this rail. For one, conservative farmers who must sell off their lands so that the rail may be built and for whom the rail will not directly benefit. Anti-spending organizations have also voiced their concerns over the validity of the numbers proposed by the CHSRA, the organization from which the numbers I am using originate. All are valid concerns, but as of now, the rail is continuing its progress, and we'll all see if it was worth it in the future.
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