The California High-Speed Rail project officially began construction in 2015 with the groundbreaking ceremony in Fresno.
The project aims to connect Gilroy (79 miles south of San Francisco) to Palmdale (52 miles north of Los Angeles) by 2045, which is approximately 494 miles.
By contrast, construction of the U.S. transcontinental railroad, which involved connecting the eastern and western rail networks, took approximately six years, from 1863 to 1869. It involved two companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, laying track toward each other from Omaha, Nebraska, and Sacramento, California, respectively.
Some of the reasons given for the project taking six years were delays caused by rough terrain (mountains, deserts, etc.) harsh weather, and attacks by Indians.
By 1870 travel time from the East Coast to the West Coast was reduced from months to only one week.
Apparently now, however, we are supposed to believe it takes 30 years to travel from Palmdale to Gilroy.
