High-Cost Rail - Part 150 "Shut-up and play the game"

It's been six months since we posted about the on-going delays and spiraling budget of the high-cost rail system that is burning through roughly $46 million per month in the Central Valley.  Most Bay Area people I speak with think either a) "hasn't this thing been killed already?"or b) "it will never get to the Peninsula" or c) "it will die of its own accord when the money runs out and we'll have an archaeological monument in Fresno".  If you only read the SF Chronicle, then aside from other problems you have, you would think HSR is basically on-track to become a cost-effective commuter line into SF.  They can even get ostensibly legit train people to write editorials to that effect.

So we have to rely on the LA Times for real reporting on what is going on with our money and it ain't pretty.  In a piece this week titled California bullet train officials say they were told to suppress bad news and ‘shut up’ a couple of named whistle blowers and a number of supporting anonymous sources paint a disturbing picture

When Mark Styles was hired in October 2018 to help oversee Central Valley scheduling for the California bullet train, he soon learned he had walked into a mess.  A core problem was the project’s operating culture, in which managers for WSP, the bullet train’s lead consultant, threatened to punish or terminate employees if they failed to toe the company line, Styles said.  “I was told to shut up and not say anything,” said Styles, a career construction manager who was hired as WSP’s senior supervisory scheduler in the project’s Fresno office.

..Other ex-WSP employees in the Fresno office, including engineer Vera Lovejoy and project controls coordinator Todd Bilstein, say they were also discouraged from sharing bad news with bosses.   Bilstein also left in 2019 after a nine-month tenure.  “If I was to give a talk at a construction conference, I would say they were not following generally accepted project management principles,” he said.

Some of the details of the slippages that are going to cost several bundles include

To install track by 2022 would normally require all of the bridges, viaducts, trenches and other structures to be completed beforehand. As a stopgap measure, the rail authority now plans to install track in five-mile discontinuous segments, which the Federal Railroad Administration has criticized as illogical.

Today, the rail authority is short by 497 of the 2,042 parcels it needs, according to its most recent progress report. In December, the authority acquired only five parcels.

But the kicker comes from an anonymous source

“They have all these people in top jobs with no technical background,” said a top executive at a major European engineering firm, who worked on the project. “They are politicians. They never disclose the full cost. They give you incremental truth. They believe that is a successful business model. They should cancel the contracts and start over.”

I'm not sure I agree with the conclusion, but his problem statement sounds accurate.  Imagine if we took a tiny sliver of what we are burning in the Valley and did the ten or fifteen key grade separations on the Peninsula, got the Caltrain electrification back on schedule and upped the frequency of service?  Ah, it's nice to dream small.

Comments

[Joe]

To my point about how to better spend HSR money: From today's DJ

Caltrain is also adjusting service after seeing significantly low ridership since efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus began. Morning and afternoon peak hour service will no longer feature Baby Bullet service. Local and limited service will continue to operate as scheduled, as will off-peak service, including midday and weekend service.

One-way and Day Pass ticket sales have declined by approximately 75% from their levels two weeks ago. Caltrain is assessing the impact reduced ridership will have on its ability to maintain operations in the coming months.

https://www.smdailyjournal.com/coronavirus/coronavirus-closes-schools-libraries-in-san-mateo-county/article_9e11880e-65a4-11ea-a703-6bdd954a3a13.html#utm_source=smdailyjournal.com&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletters%2Fheadlines%2F%3F-dc%3D1584194416&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read%20more

[Bubbaloo]

The Adam Corolla Show podcast, 19 March 2020: Part 1 minute 57--excellent commentary on HSR.

[Joe]

After hearing from the NorCal regional director for HSR yesterday during a presentation on the latest Business Plan, you will be pleased to learn that the construction in the Central Valley is considered an "essential service" exempt from the shelter-in-place restrictions in effect in California.

[Joe]

Here is news out of Sacramento today:

Lenny Mendonca, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s top business adviser and chairman of the High-Speed Rail Authority, is leaving the administration to focus on his family and personal business.

Newsom’s office announced the departure Friday night. In a statement, Newsom praised Mendonca for launching an initiative aimed at improving the economic fortunes of the state’s inland counties and kicking off Newsom’s Future of Work Commission.

Mendonca, a former senior partner at the consulting powerhouse McKinsey & Company, has long been a go-to adviser for Newsom.

[[email protected]]

To often the term "leaving __________________
to focus my Family and personal business" "Rings Hollow."
I am not saying this is the case for Mr. Mendosa. He has been a great advocate for Governor Newsome.
However, 3/5's of the time, leaving _________, for "family and business" applies only to Government Employees and Official's.
Weird....

[Joe]

The LA Times remains on the case reporting on various possible effects of the last election:

Even under a friendly Biden White House, California would need to signal a stronger commitment to fund the project and resolve many thorny issues it has avoided, such as a plan to subsidize the service in violation of state law, experts say.

And ultimately, the state needs to come up with a credible plan to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, not just build an isolated starter system in the Central Valley, as it is now doing.

As for more money, Kelly said there is the possibility of “public help” and private participation down the road. “We are at the end of a tough beginning,” he said about the project’s status.

Advocates for bullet trains have bigger dreams. The U.S. High Speed Rail Assn., based in Washington, wants $360 billion for bullet train projects across the nation, including $60 billion for the California system.

The American Society of Civil Engineers — founded in 1862 — wants the federal government to focus on decay in existing highways, bridges, rail systems, tunnels, dams, sewers, airports and other essential civil works. The organization notes that more than 40% of buses and 25% of rail transit hardware are in marginal or poor condition.

“Prospects for some financial participation by the federal government are better than they were, but it is easy to overestimate them,” said Martin Wachs, an emeritus professor at UCLA who is an expert in transportation. “There could be a few billion dollars, but it would not eliminate the need for the state to put the project on a sound financial footing.”
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There is a lot more detail here:

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-17/california-bullet-train-project-joe-biden?utm_source=sfmc_100035609&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=News+Alert%3A+Will+%27Amtrak+Joe%27+Biden+bail+out+California%27s+troubled+bullet+train%3F+Don%27t+bet+on+it+-+0&utm_term=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.latimes.com%2Fcalifornia%2Fstory%2F2020-11-17%2Fcalifornia-bullet-train-project-joe-biden&utm_id=17701&sfmc_id=896880

[Joe]

From KTLA:

A letter from a major contractor blames the state for delays in building California’s bullet train, contradicting claims that the line’s construction pace is on target and warning the project could miss a key 2022 federal deadline, according to a newspaper report Tuesday.

The 36-page letter obtained by the Los Angeles Times alleges the high-speed rail project faces problems including continuing delays in obtaining land for the line and the state’s failure to finalize deals with outside parties such as utilities and freight railroads.

As of mid-November, construction crews could not build on more than 500 parcels in the Fresno area because the California High Speed Rail Authority still lacks proper documentation, according to the Jan. 4 letter. The company has completed all the work that could be done efficiently and as a result is now operating at other sites at a slower pace, the Times reported.

“It is beyond comprehension that as of this day, more than two thousand and six hundred calendar days after (official approval to start construction) that the authority has not obtained all of the right of way … ” wrote Tutor Perini Vice President of Operations Ghassan Ariqat to Garth Fernandez, the contracting chief at the state rail authority.

https://ktla.com/news/california/state-bullet-train-delays-beyond-comprehension-contractor-says-in-blistering-letter-to-officials/?fbclid=IwAR130kxLHAyI1CZJNRBRBFiOMOM4eg56uJ5XQcrRWurbZmHsZcGkgT2NXS8

[Wunderkind]

Recall Governor Newsom

[Mary Griffith]

This project has been and always will be nothing but a Boondoggle. A complete waste of tax payers heard earned dollars. The project needs to be ended. We need a politician who can call this project what it is and defund it. NOW MR. Newsom!