California High Speed Rail Cost Projections Continue To Increase

Sacramento, CA — California’s High-Speed Rail project now has an estimated price tag of $128-billion, compared to the $33-billion estimate provided to voters in 2008.

The goal is to eventually have the train run from Los Angeles to San Francisco, with much of the focus currently on building the initial 170-mile stretch from Merced to Bakersfield. That link alone is now anticipated to cost over $36-billion and be completed by 2030. The High-Speed Rail Authority currently does not have an estimate as to when the originally envisioned full project would be completed. It will require additional state and/or federal funding over the coming years.

Yesterday, the Assembly Transportation Committee and Budget Subcommittee held a joint hearing on the project. It will continue, but Republicans argued that it should be scrapped. The Republican leader of the Budget Subcommittee, Vince Fong, stated, “The Governor and the Legislature need to stop wasting taxpayer money on this failing project and redirect the billion-dollar yearly funding to more pressing priorities like hardening levies, water storage and conveyance that will protect lives and communities to help Californians.”

Leading Democrats would like to see the project come to fruition. Nearly $10-billion in additional revenue will be needed to finish the Central Valley stretch. Governor Gavin Newsom put $526-million into his latest budget proposal, and the state is also hoping secure $8-billion in federal infrastructure dollars to cover the remaining gap.