crs1026
Superstar
I find it interesting how the California experience is being described (just about everywhere) as a failure.
I see it as a resounding success, in the sense that somebody actually is driving a HSR line to the finish line in North America (for all its detractors, California is too far along to be cancellable) and that prototype has created a wealth of experience that will provide a cautionary tale for future projects, mostly about what to avoid and what has to change before a project can succeed. (In California's case, the biggest lessons learned are, a) do not let local politicians have undue influence and b) there is a time for input - but once the debate over do it/don't do it is over, do not allow litigation by individual interests that is aimed at reversing that decision stand in the way of just getting it done).
I'm a big believer in letting somebody else blaze the trail and let them pay the price of development. But somebody has to go first, and first efforts are usually painful. So the challenge is to not repeat California's process..... but there is no reason to believe that a VIA project would go bad for the same reasons.
In the private sector, California would be looking at all of this as a collection of IP and trying to recoup their cost overruns by selling and licensing their hard earned experience. That won't happen, but the overspend while sensational is not necessarily money badly spent. Just about every railroad in North America went broke along the way.
- Paul
I see it as a resounding success, in the sense that somebody actually is driving a HSR line to the finish line in North America (for all its detractors, California is too far along to be cancellable) and that prototype has created a wealth of experience that will provide a cautionary tale for future projects, mostly about what to avoid and what has to change before a project can succeed. (In California's case, the biggest lessons learned are, a) do not let local politicians have undue influence and b) there is a time for input - but once the debate over do it/don't do it is over, do not allow litigation by individual interests that is aimed at reversing that decision stand in the way of just getting it done).
I'm a big believer in letting somebody else blaze the trail and let them pay the price of development. But somebody has to go first, and first efforts are usually painful. So the challenge is to not repeat California's process..... but there is no reason to believe that a VIA project would go bad for the same reasons.
In the private sector, California would be looking at all of this as a collection of IP and trying to recoup their cost overruns by selling and licensing their hard earned experience. That won't happen, but the overspend while sensational is not necessarily money badly spent. Just about every railroad in North America went broke along the way.
- Paul
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