PROPOSED RAIL LINE COURTESY CALIFORNIA HIGH SPEED RAIL AUTHORITY

Take a trip to the California High Speed Rail Authority’s site and everything comes up as optimistic as ever: “Fly California without ever leaving the ground.”

It’d be nice to hop on a train and get to San Francisco in two and half hours, but the AP reports that things are hobbling along as always, what with the budget mess and all.

The story gets even more complicated when you factor in the excellent feature recently rolled out by the East Bay Express. Apparently certain environmental groups aren’t too happy with the current proposal. Neither are  those who fear a $40 billion dollar rail line.

The story does point out some bright points, though. Japan’s high speed rail line from Osaka to Tokyo, for example, made enough money its first year that it covered all the construction costs itself.

But it’s been 12 years since the High Speed Rail Authority was established and it’ll be at least another 10 before we connect L.A. to San Francisco.  Keep on dreamin’.

Tags: budget, California, high speed rail, public transportation