Doubts about high-speed rail

Not a big surprise here, but more questions are being raised about that multibillion-dollar bullet train between SF and L.A. - specifically related to the project's business plan. One big blunder was the High-Speed Rail Authority failing to account for inflation in its price estimate. So what was believed to have been a $33.6 billion price tag is now $42.6 billion. From the SF Chronicle:

Then there is the estimated ticket price for a trip from L.A. to San Francisco, which has jumped to $105 one way - making the line much less competitive with the price of an airline ticket. There are also questions being raised about the bullet train's ridership projections. For example, San Francisco is expected to have 24,100 bullet riders a day, a realistic number given the business ties between San Francisco and Los Angeles. But does anyone really think that the town of Gilroy will have 4,700 bullet train riders a day?