i am so tired of hearing politicians talk about california high-speed rail like it was a huge stupid mistake. the reason it hasn't gone anywhere isn't because it was a bad idea, it's because politicians aren't investing in it because they don't give a shit. it took twelve fucking years after it was approved by the legislature for it to even show up on the ballot, and it's been another eighteen since then. thirty fucking years to barely break ground on one fucking train line!!! transportation in the united states is decades behind every other country of remotely comparable size and it's not for any reason other than a complete lack of political will. to get from my home in san diego to san francisco—that is, to travel between two of the largest destinations in the country, which are about 500 miles apart in essentially a straight line—takes me about 7 to 8 hours of driving, but when i enter it into amtrak's trip planner the shortest route it gives me is over 13 hours, and most of the options it gives me require me to spend over half the trip on a bus. (lest anyone think i'm deliberately nerfing the numbers by picking san francisco, whose geography makes it tricky to reach directly by train, i also ran the options for sacramento, which is about the same distance but more directly accessible. there were more options, including some that don't require buses, but the fastest route is still almost 12½ hours long, and even those without buses still require transfers because the only amtrak route leaving san diego ends in san luis obispo 🙃)
meanwhile, to get from paris to barcelona, which is approximately the same distance as the crow flies and probably even a little bit longer than sd–sf on the actual route, takes less than 7 hours. beijing to xi'an, which is actually a bit longer of a distance (closer to 650 miles), has trains taking as little as 4 hours and 10 minutes. it is extremely doable. politicians who call it a "boondoggle" are lying. (where do you even hear the word "boondoggle" outside of politicians complaining about spending money on anything other than bombs?) california high speed rail isn't a wasteful pipe dream. it is a vital necessity that is being needlessly murdered by a political system that does not serve the public good
