California’s flailing High-Speed Rail project is undergoing yet another marketing smokescreen, with soaring costs leading officials to pitch a pipe dream of bullet trains depositing riders at Yosemite National Park.
Facing ballooning costs and missed deadlines, the boondoggle – now estimated to cost well over $100 billion if it’s ever completed – has state rail officials and Central Valley leaders floating a plan to shift the future Merced station out of downtown andrebrand it as a Yosemite access point.
However, the newly proposed station, which would reportedly be about four miles southeast of the originally proposed station in downtown Merced, would still require bus shuttles to ferry tourists 70 miles to trailheads.
“This is just gaslighting,” Assemblymember David Tangipa (R-Fresno) said. “Their model is just to rename it and let’s make everyone feel good.”
The Yosemite rebrand comes on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democrats proposing legislation that wouldbury records related to High-Speed Rail’s costs— now pegged at $215 million per mile.
“Instead of opening up their books, they now want to reroute the train to an orchard four miles outside of Merced and market it as the ‘Gateway to Yosemite,’” Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo (R-Tulare) told The Post.
“This is an affront to taxpayers. No matter what way it is branded, the High-Speed Rail has been nothing but a colossal failure.”
“Taxpayers continue to be swindled.”
The California High-Speed Rail Authority has been scrambling since last year, when it quietly floated a plan to bypass Merced altogether and swing the tracks west toward the Bay Area. That sparked backlash from local officials, who accused the state of breaking yet another promise.
The governor’s office and high-speed rail officials did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
