California High Speed Rail is a Joke, and I Can Prove It

OK, if Gov Moonbeam's high speed, shiny metal choo-choo train gets built, this is what the paying passenger will see:

• one-way = $120 (2009 estimate)
• duration = 2.5 hours

OK, now let us try to book a plane ticket duplicating this route

• www.southwest.com [2 week advance purchase, Monday flight]
• SFO to LAX:
• travel time = 1 hour 20 minutes
• add 1 hour before flight leaves to clear TSA lines (less if you buy a refundable ticket, since these include priority check-in)
• flights leave every 2 hours or so
• refundable ticket = $206 to $190
• Wanna Get Away = $91 (non-refundable)
• total travel time = 2 hours 20 minutes

Coast Starliner (www.Amtrak.com)

• $88
• 12 hour travel time [lv Jack London Square 8am, arr Union Station 8pm]

Those of you who need to get to LA in a couple hours, you already have a choice right now, today. It is called an airplane. If you insist on train travel and are not in a hurry, you can do it right now. If you wish to travel by train and get there just as fast an airplane, you will have to wait a couple of decades and hope that the Golden State will fork over the $100 billion or so it will take to build the new choo-choo train.