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Comment by mulmen | Hacker News Reader

Lots of negativity in this thread. Typical of large infrastructure projects. But other than the US Military this is the best way for the government to provide jobs. Lots of them. And it turns out this project is more than HSR. It’s an entire modernization project. And it’s working!

We need more big infrastructure projects. Lots more. Every dollar spent is an investment in the future.

This seems to be a more positive take: https://youtu.be/rcjr4jbGuJg

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> Lots of negativity in this thread. Typical of large infrastructure projects.

This isn’t a large infrastructure project. It’s a small project with the price tag of a large one and the timeline that people could start and retire careers on.

A train project like this in China would have taken 2 years and would have been about 1/10th of the cost. It would have the been the same in the US 90 years ago.

If you want examples of large infrastructure projects, look to FDR’s Dams.

There’s nothing small about the California HSR project. I’m not persuaded by “we should be more like China”. The grass is always greener. They have problems with their rail system that make California HSR look like a Disneyland attraction.

It’s a single train between two major cities. The railroad boom 200 years ago makes it look like a complete joke.

I mean, they have a HSR system and we have a Tutor Perini Yacht Slush Fund.

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