Canada studying electrifying Toronto-Montreal

[CandOforprogress2]

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/11/04/high-speed-rail-canada-via-rail-yves-desjardins-siciliano_n_8473342.html

[PJS1]

These items standout for me in this very good article:

 

…….the dedicated passenger corridor would cost $3 billion ($4 billion if the track is electrified) and attract an estimated 7 million passengers, “so it’s a third of the cost for two-thirds of the benefit,” Desjardins-Siciliano says. 

 

"The lower-cost dedicated track project can be introduced quickly and affordably and set the stage for ... an increase in speeds of trains, over time, as passenger traffic grows across the Quebec-Windsor network," ……….

 

Can you imagine?  Build an affordable solution that meets your country’s public transport needs, and justify it with a serious cost/benefit analysis!

 

California…………..$68.4-billion high-speed rail project that will connect Los Angeles with San Francisco by 2029……..

 

Assuming the California project is funded with debt @ an average interest rate of 4.5 per cent, compounded monthly for 360 months, which is the current U.S. long bond rate, the cost of the California High Speed Rail Project will be $124.3 billion.  This probably is on the low side of the cost estimates because California cannot borrow money at the U.S. long bond rate, and it is on the hook for some serious funding. The promoters of these projects almost always fail to disclose the cost of financing, which is as much a part of the project’s cost as the infrastructure and the equipment.

 

“That’s why we’ve got to be very responsible in how we [use] your money by investing it wisely,” Desjardins-Siciliano said.

 

Wow!  Your money!!!!!!