‘Worst-case scenario:’ High-speed rail costs jump to $10.6B
35% increase raises questions about project completion
In what’s being described as a “worst-case scenario,” the cost of California’s highspeed rail project through the Central Valley has surged by $2.8 billion, bringing the total cost to an estimated $10.6 billion, for the 119-mile section between Madera and Bakersfield.
That’s up from the original estimate of $6 billion. The LA Times and Fresno Bee report a slew of delays in the project, coupled with higher-than-anticipated costs, are to blame. The updated cost estimate underscores criticism from opponents of the project, who have long raised concerns that state officials underestimated
the costs and oversold the benefits.
And, it raises questions about how the state will complete the project, considered the largest public infrastructure investment in the country, with existing funds.
Roy Hill, who helms the project team at the lead consulting firm for the California
High Speed Rail Authority, WSP, presented the new estimate to the authority Tuesday. Hill told the board higher-than-anticipated costs for land acquisition and related delays added about $725 million to the cost increase.
Another $325 million was added to the total to account for construction delays. Safety barriers where the bullet train will operate near freight lines will cost an extra $450 million, and mitigation measures to satisfy concerns from communities along the route will contributed $250 million. Then there is the need to relocate wires, pipes and cables used by utility companies, which is expected to add $350 million, among other costs.
“The worst-case scenario has happened,” Hill told the authority’s board at its monthly meeting on Tuesday, the Times reported.
At the same meeting, the board voted to hire Brian Kelly, the secretary of the California Transportation Agency, as the authority’s new chief executive. His appointment fills a vacancy by Jeff Morales, who left the authority in June. Kelly will earn a salary of $384,984.