The California state government is facing criticism for celebrating the completion of a high-speed rail bridge that cost taxpayers over 11 billion US Dollars and took nine years to build, yet appears to serve no purpose.
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, and Billy Markus, the creator of Dogecoin, have openly ridiculed the California High-Speed Rail Authority.
The authority celebrated the completion of the “Fresno River Viaduct” last year, which is a small section of the state’s long-delayed bullet train project intended to link San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Elon Musk vented his frustration on social media (formerly known as Twitter) by posting a sad, crying emoji in response to the project. Reports suggest that the project is now at risk of being canceled.
🇺🇸 Sorry, but that’s just an overpass. China needs two weeks for that.
“California took 9 years to build a high-speed rail bridge to nowhere – the construction cost more than $11 billion
California is wildly celebrating the completion of a high-speed rail bridge that cost… pic.twitter.com/R73guEpFPr
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) May 5, 2024
On the other hand, Billy Markus said in his X post, “This is the most remarkable human achievement ever.” “1,600 feet of high-speed rail after 9 years and 11 billion dollars. It takes about 5 minutes to walk 1,600 feet, so a high-speed rail for that is a really big deal,” he added.
The project’s expenses encompass not only the bridge but also other infrastructure components for the initial phase of the high-speed route. This route extends from Bakersfield, located north of Los Angeles, to Merced, covering approximately 80 miles from the Bay Area.
Following an earlier announcement by the rail authority, critics lauded the completion of the Fresno River Viaduct in Madera County, considering it one of the initial fully constructed high-speed rail structures.
“At nearly 1,600 feet long, high-speed trains will travel over the riverbed and will run parallel with the BNSF Railroad,” the authority stated.
Photographs released by the authorities depict a bridge that seems to lead nowhere at either end, leading some to speculate that it symbolizes larger problems affecting the project.
In response to the projected cost of approximately 100 billion US dollars for completing the rail line, Markus delivered a sarcastic comment, saying, ‘How impressive! I can hardly wait until the year 2400 when it’s finally finished—for the bargain price of 700 quadrillion dollars.’
Venture capitalist Patrick Blumenthal insinuated that the authority should pump the brakes on praising itself, posting a breakdown of the lack of progress the rail-line project has made, according to the New York Post
“0.3 miles completed. After 15 years. After $11.2 BILLION. $36.96 billion per mile,” he wrote on X.
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