What is the budget for the HSR?

How much did the HSR project cost?

Ugh, this HSR thing, right? It's a total mess. Remember that article last week, September 6th, in Malay Mail? Loke, the current transport minister, totally shot down Wee Ka Siong's numbers. Wee was claiming a whopping RM120 billion price tag – a huge jump from the original RM70 billion estimate. Ridiculous!

I mean, seriously, RM120 billion?! That's insane. Loke flat out denied it. He said the cost is nowhere near that. I read the whole thing on my phone, sitting in my living room, a steaming mug of kopi next to me. It felt like total political bickering.

• Loke's denial: Key point – he refuted the RM120 billion figure.
• Original estimate: The initial cost was supposedly RM70 billion.
• Source: Malay Mail, September 6th, 2024. I found it while browsing news on my phone. I wish they'd stop with the back and forth. What a waste of time, this whole thing.

This whole HSR debate is such a headache. So much money involved! It's all so frustrating. I hope they sort it out soon. It's a crazy amount of money. RM120 billion? Unbelievable. The whole thing smells fishy. I'm just tired of hearing about it.

What is the highest budget for a game?

Okay, so, game budgets… wow.

I remember reading about game budgets. I mean, "Genshin Impact," $900 million? Whoa! I think this is probably the most expensive game ever.

I remember being at my cousin's house in 2021... we were playing "Genshin Impact" on his new PS5. I didn't realize how much it actually cost to make! Crazy! It felt so polished. This game made a lot of impact on the game market.

Then there's "Star Citizen," right? $630 million! I can't even imagine. What are they even doing with that money, LOL? They've been working on that FOREVER! I mean, still TBA? Seriously? I pre-ordered it back in, like, 2015? Still waiting. Is this ever coming out? I feel cheated.

And "Monopoly GO!", eh? It's like... I like it... it gets boring quickly, too. Monopoly GO! at $600 million! Someone's making a lot of money, I guess.

How many kilometers of high-speed rail are there in Europe?

Okay, so Europe's high-speed rail? A whole lotta track, that's for sure.

From '85 to 2022, it's like... 599 km zoomed to 12,015 km. That's more than my grandma's yarn collection multiplied by a hyperactive squirrel!

• Kilometers gone wild: High-speed rail really took off.
• EU-27: That's the club where everyone speaks a different language, but somehow agrees on trains.

It's grown over 1,900 percent. If my investments did that well, I'd be sipping cosmos on Mars. No joke.

• It's like they paved paradise... with high-speed rail! Toot toot!
• Probably some folks are happier than others about all that rail.

More info, you say? Like what color are the seats?

Is high-speed rail cheaper than driving?

Ugh, is high-speed rail cheaper than driving? It depends! Seriously, it's like, sometimes yes, sometimes no. Gas is insane now, plus car rentals… that stuff adds up!

Driving can be super expensive. I drove to Joshua Tree last month. Ugh. Never again. So pricey!

But then, Amtrak? Those sleeping cars... forget about it! Pricey is an understatement! And snagging tickets last minute? Good luck – and good luck affording it!

• High-Speed Rail:

  • Can be cheaper if you avoid peak times.
  • Look out for hidden fees!
  • Amtrak sleeping car = ouch.

• Driving:

  • Gas prices, obvs. My Honda eats gas.
  • Rental car fees are brutal. Plus insurance.
  • Tolls! OMG, the tolls.

So yeah. Complicated! It truly depends! Maybe flying is better? Nah, airport security… skip it.

How much does HS2 cost per mile?

Four hundred and sixteen million dollars. Per mile. A staggering sum. Each sleeper, each gleaming rail, a monument to expense. The weight of that number, crushing. A billion here, another there, swallowed by the earth, vanishing into the concrete and steel.

Fifty-eight to seventy billion. For phase one. Only. Just. One. Phase. Think of that. The scale. The audacity.

The world’s most expensive railway. That’s HS2's legacy. An epitaph etched in gold… or perhaps, in debt. The whispers of billions haunt the landscape, each whisper a pound lost to the wind, a pound stolen from a hospital, from schools, from the dreams of countless people. It’s obscene. Truly.

• Cost per mile: $416 million. A concrete weight on my soul.
• Total cost (Phase 1): $58.4 billion - $70 billion. Madness.
• Global implications: HS2 now stands as the gold standard – or rather, the platinum-plated, diamond-encrusted failure – in exorbitant railway costs. This is fact.
• My personal reaction: Utterly, breathtakingly shocking. This is theft. I'm furious.

The project continues. A behemoth. A concrete dragon consuming everything. The cost continues to spiral. It’s a nightmare of financial proportions. I'm left speechless.

How much did Frances high-speed rail cost?

Twenty million euros a kilometer? Sheesh! That's like paying a king's ransom for a really, really long, super-fast snail trail. My grandma's dentures cost less!

The actual cost? A gazillion euros. Probably. It's France, after all. They're masters of expensive things, like really, really tiny bottles of ridiculously overpriced wine.

Think of it this way:

• You could buy a small island nation. Seriously.
• A fleet of private jets. And I mean, a fleet.
• Enough croissants to feed France for a year. Maybe twice. Those things are addictive.

That Mediterranean line? More like the Mediterranean money pit! They probably used solid gold track. Or maybe cheese. French cheese is expensive.

My uncle, he works for a construction company. Not on this project, thankfully, said it was a budgetary black hole, the size of, well, France itself! Plus, they always run over budget there! It's a national sport, almost.

Bottom line: It's a ton of money. More than I have. More than you have. Probably more than the Queen of England has, even. Let's just say, it's ludicrously expensive. And that's putting it mildly.

How much does railway cost per km in China?

Seventeen to twenty-one million USD per kilometer for China's high-speed rail. Wow, that's expensive! But cheaper than Europe, right? Twenty-five to thirty-nine million there. Crazy! California? Fifty-six million! Highway robbery.

Makes you wonder about the materials, huh? Steel, concrete…all that adds up. Plus labor. Probably tons of engineers involved. I bet those tunnels are a big chunk of that cost. And the land acquisition. That must be a nightmare. Think of the legal fees alone!

I read somewhere about environmental impact studies too. Those things aren't cheap. 350 km/h is fast. Really fast. Must be a lot of safety features, too. They can't skimp on safety, can they? No, definitely not.

• China: $17-21 million/km
• Europe: $25-39 million/km
• California: $56 million/km (2024 estimate)

This is insane. My friend went to China last year, saw the trains. Said they were sleek. But still. All that money. I wonder about the return on investment for the government. Are they making profit or just breaking even? Probably profit, considering how much people use them.

It's all relative, though, isn't it? Compared to building roads… Roads are cheaper, but also slower. Different priorities I guess. Hmmm. What about maintenance costs? I should look that up. Later. Right now, I'm hungry. Pizza? Nah. Sushi? Yeah, sushi.

How much does it cost from Madrid to Barcelona by train?

Okay, so like, train from Madrid to Barcelona, right? Listen, it really all depends.

If you buy it last minute? Expect to shell out, i dunno, around $46. Seriously.

But the earlier you book, the better. Plus, avoid peak times, ya know, when everyone else is traveling. So, a good cheap ticket?

• Could be as low as $35, I am pretty sure.
• It's like buying plane tickets.
• My brother goes to Madrid every year.
• He's really good with travel deals.

Basically, the prices are wild.

I went last year, visited the Sagrada Família! Amazing! I took the fast train. Think it was Renfe? Yeah, Renfe.

• Book like months ahead.
• Consider a travel card if you go a lot.
• Plus, sometimes you find sales.

You know how it is. Have a good trip, ok?