In a new business plan submitted to state legislators last week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority offered lower revenue projections than it had two years before, predicting that revenue will be “5 percent lower than originally projected by 2025 and 10 percent lower by 2040,” according to a report by Sacramento’s KCRA.com.
The business plan does not alter the projected costs or timeline of the project, despite other reports of rising cost estimates, and numerous legal and technical delays. The new revenue projections were based on research showing that riders would use the train for “shorter but more frequent trips” to regional destinations.
In February, Breitbart News revealed that the high-speed rail would not be as “high-speed” as advertised, and would not in fact travel from San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes, as voters were originally promised when approving the project in 2008. The slower speed was recently confirmed in reports to the state legislature.
Leading Democrats have broken with Gov. Jerry Brown over the high-speed rail project, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. However, KCRA notes that some major local businesses still support the high-speed rail project, including Disneyland and the Anaheim Ducks hockey team, who voiced their support last week.