To the editor: Thus, the high -speed rail authority wants the good citizens of states like, say, Maine and Hawaii help finance the high -speed hideously expensive train with their federal taxes, even if none of them will regularly make the train (“California's high -speed rail leaders are an alarm on the project's financial future”, “ May 1). Since the train will only serve the state of California and not Hawaii and Maine, it is just that only the federal tax funds generated by California are used for this boondoggy.
Meanwhile, the idea of public / private partnerships to finance the train project is a desperate fantasy. What private investment company would contribute to this $ 100 billion fiasco on the budget? What hope do they have for a reasonable return on risk?
The high -speed train and its initial bond funding have been sold to taxpayer voters in California as an alternative higher than vehicle and aircraft trips. A great idea at the time, but no longer given the current estimate of the future cost. It is time of Mothball which has been built so far, to spend more urgent problems and perhaps resuscitate the train at a future moment.
Dick Helmuth, Costa Mesa
