This has got to be the stupidest idea yet.
If we assume 30 dollars one way as a reasonable fair, and it does not go into cost overruns, and it costs ZERO dollars to operate once it is built, it will take 156,000,000 trips to pay for itself. At 50 dollars one way, it is still 94 million trips. How many people make that commute? How long will it take to pay for itself?
Of course, we know it WILL go into cost over runs, and it will cost a great deal of money to keep going, for maintenance, employees, power, etc.
Can anyone explain to me how this will be economically feasible? Anyone?
Arnold?
Let's not jump to conclusions here. These numbers are unrealistic. First of all, a reasonable fair of $30? It would cost $50+ in gas (not to mention depreciation) alone at 30mpg on the highway. Let's say $60 one way. That matches the cost of a flight and has a lot less hassle.
The eurostar capacity is 15 trains per hour, 800 people per train which translates to 12,000 passengers, per hour, per direction giving 24,000 passengers per hour counting both ways. Say you run at 50% capacity on average, that is still $720k/hr at $60 per ticket, and you can easily have a first class cabin that has a higher cost. Say you spend 75% of that on operating costs, etc and you still need just 26,000 hours of operation to pay that 4.7bil. that is under 3 years of operating at 50% capacity.
Even if this can pay itself off in 10 years it would be a great investment for the state to make.
Now I know my numbers aren't perfect but the breakdown in the parent post is ridiculous
