Fmr. Gov. Gray Davis Says High-Speed Rail in California Coming

Thirteen years after former California Governor Gray Davis signed the bond-deal that would produce the nation’s first high-speed rail system, the California Bullet Train is over-budget and will not be built on time. During an interview with the FOX Business Network’s Stuart Varney he discusses why the high-speed rail will be built.

“I’m very pleased that Governor Brown, who is one of the most frugal people on the planet… is in charge because he has already reduced the cost by about one-third by adjusting where the train will start and where it will end,” he said.

Davis said linking Burbank to San Jose will provide economic benefits.

“If you look to Europe and Asia… high-speed rail is a reality. If you have been in California… anywhere between four and seven in the evening, in Los Angeles, you’re not moving -- it’s gridlock. So we need another alternative to link these two areas. The GDP of the Bay Area and Los Angeles exceeds all but 10 states in this country. There’s an economic value to linking these two great cities.”

The project will consist of digging through 26-miles of tunnels through mountains on earthquake faults which Davis doesn’t consider a major risk.

“We have experts that have dug underneath The Pyrenees and The Alps, European companies consulting with [the] high-speed rail authorities… We put a man on the moon and brought them back, that has much bigger risk than high-speed rail is dealing with,” he said.

Although it will now cost $68 billion to build, Davis said the first two contracts have come in under-estimates and will be built by 2028.