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Comment by jdminhbg | Hacker News Reader

Seattle is in the midst of a $1.9 billion 4.3-mile light rail extension that will take over a decade to complete: http://www.seattlepi.com/local/transportation/article/Sound-...

As awesome as this sounds, it sounds almost delusional in the current planning/cost/funding climate to price this at $20-30 bn and 15 years.

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Doing separated-grade (that extension is mostly underground) in the middle of a dense urban area is going to cost tremendously more per mile than an HSR line whose tracks are mostly outside urban areas.

I am sure you're right, but it is disappointing that this is the case. Rapid Chinese expansion of HSR suggests that it is technically possible to do it much more quickly.

We would be screwed by the border crossing from canada to the us. You'd have to completely do it in canada. There's discussion of this below, but since i now live in idiocracy, I have little hope.

Why do you think $30 billion is delusional? Just because it's a huge number?

The US spends well over $1 trillion dollars on transportation every year, to put it in context.

I think it's delusional because a neighborhood spur light rail line in Seattle costs about 1/10 of that (and takes about the same amount of forecasted time).

Uhh, we just approved $54 Billion for Sound Transit 3, which adds 62 miles of rail spanning from Everett to Tacoma, so no, light rail isn't dirt cheap. It is very effective at moving people cheaply though, and is a big economic boon to this city.

Going from Capital Hill to UW in under 5 minutes on the train, versus a 10 to 20 minute drive is amazing!

Seconded! Here in Kansas City we just completed our first downtown light rail. And they are already discussing plans to expand it. It's been such a great new mode of transport for visitors and locals. I think most of us couldn't have been happier with it now that it's done.

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