California Bullet Train Cost Goes Up Yet Again

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Monika Bauerlein,
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Here’s the latest HSR news from California:

The California high-speed rail authority bowed to pressure from California legislators and members of Congress late Tuesday and released a copy of a 2013 report showing a large estimated increase in the cost of building the initial segment of the bullet train project.

The report, disclosed by the Times in a story Oct. 25, said Parsons Brinckerhoff had briefed state officials in October 2013 that the projected cost of the first phase of the bullet train system had risen 31%. The state did not use the increase, however, in its 2014 business plan four months later.

So that’s a 31 percent increase over the course of about two years. But no worries. This new estimate is “preliminary, still in development and subject to review clarification and refinement.” In other words, it might go up even more.