Posted on 10/08/2021 2:27:10 PM PDT by BenLurkin
The California bullet train is facing at least another billion dollars of proposed cost increases from its contractors...
The state’s High-Speed Rail Authority has mostly approved such increases in the past, and if it does so again, contractors could proceed with one of the biggest price escalations since bullet train construction began in the San Joaquin Valley.
The state has budgeted $22.8 billion to build a partial segment from Bakersfield to Merced. Originally, construction of the Los Angeles to San Francisco system was pegged at $33 billion. But the surging costs will probably force the state to dig deeper into its future funding just to complete that 171-mile leg in the valley.
The teams building bridges, viaducts, trenches and overpasses in the valley have submitted dozens of new claims for delays and design changes, asserting they are the authority’s fault, according to several of the project’s technical and business officials and internal documents reviewed by The Times. The officials asked to remain nameless because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
The costs are being driven by changes in designs submitted in the original contracts, delays in moving underground utilities and long-standing problems buying all of the land along the right of way.
Rail authority Chief Executive Brian Kelly declined to discuss the size of the cost increases, but said they are growing due to erroneous past decisions.
The board has limited ability to intervene. Board members are not provided with proposed change orders or their proposed amounts before the staff approves them, according to two former board members.
Efforts to strengthen outside control of the project have also faltered. In 2016, then Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed bipartisan legislation to strengthen oversight.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Just waiting for that 3.5 trillion to get the train back on the tracks.
And Tesla left.
I’m surprised they’ve left the word “bullet” with the name of the train. Seems like an obvious choice for a new name.
“The state has budgeted $22.8 billion to build a partial segment from Bakersfield to Merced.”
Ok, so the cows have transportation, but what options will HUMANS have?
Bull sh!t train?
Wow. We can all travel to the industrial, technology, and tourist powerhouses of Merced to Bakersfield in record time in the comfort of a bullet train. All I have to do is pack up the car, Drive to the station, pay the parking fee to park near the train station, unload my luggage, load up the train, get to my destination, then unpack the train, go to the rental care counter, rent a car, load up the rental car, do my business, then drive back and do the whole process again. What’s not to love.
How much money does it take to fill a bottomless pit?
Bakersfield to Merced? It makes absolutely no sense at all.
Sure I know it was supposed to be something else; and they hope it will become something more in the future. But that’s going to be another problem for another day.
Would be better to expand the highways to accommodate for future autonomous vehicles - electric or otherwise. Commuter trains will be obsolete when the day that autonomous vehicles can take passengers point to point arrives and that day may be closer than the day they connect LA to SF via train.
Train to nowhere
The money spent on this boondoggle train could build dozens of desalination plants and reservoirs, going a long way to solving CA’s water problems during droughts. Instead, we are stuffing that money into the pockets of the mega rich.
Gruesome Boondoggle Monument
Yeah, the word “bullet” is one of those micro-aggression thingies.
Geez, I hate that arrogant prick.
who the hell would even think about building a bullet train in the most unstable region of the country?? first thoughts of mine when they just started publicly pondering the idea out there. GD train, zipping along at 250kpm+ and a 7.5 earthquake hits... you’re not gonna stop fast enough before some major destruction occurs!! how fkn stupid can you get!!???
+
kph
Biden already reinstated the one billion grant back to them in July, but of course they'll need more.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.