Good news and bad news from bullet train land. First, the bad news. In an updated business plan released yesterday, the California High Speed Rail Authority raised their projected SF-to-LA ticket price from $55 for the 2.5-hour trip to $105 — or about 83 percent of a plane ticket. The near price double means that projected ridership on the line has gone down too, from 55 million passengers by 2030 to a much more modest 41 million by 2035. Also, the construction of the line will now cost $42.6 billion in "time-of-construction" dollars, versus $33.6B as previously projected. The good news? That actually the higher ticket prices and lower ridership turns out to help them churn out a higher profit, lower maintenance and all that. Plus, they say there'll be more construction jobs than they thought there'd be. So... there's that.
· State high-speed train rides to be costlier, ridership lower than promised to voters [SJ Merc]
· High on High Speed: Pacheco Pass and Peninsula Tunnels [Curbed SF]
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