High-Speed Rail In California

The High-Speed Rail project, which is being built by 4000 workers across the state, will connect California's megaregions and will be the first high-speed rail system in the country. The project's first phase will connect San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin in less than three hours, at speeds surpassing 200 miles per hour. The railway will be extended to Sacramento and San Diego in Phase 2, totaling 800 miles.

The High-Speed Rail project, however, is not only beyond budget, but also behind schedule. The project's initial budget was $33 billion when it was approved in 2008, but it has now been boosted to at least $100 billion. Indeed, the 65-mile Kings County leg of the rail is currently 62 percent over budget, with cost overruns totaling more than $800 million. The project, which has been beset by delays, was intended to be operational by 2020 but is now in danger of missing its new operational date of 2030 by at least two years, increasing cost overruns. Many of the project's problems stem from the state accepting the lowest offer from a design contractor who provided a grossly erroneous cost estimate that promised $300 million in cost savings but only delivered one costly modification order after another.

Despite these obstacles, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), which oversees the project, claims it is making progress building the rail.

Cost Estimation: $100+ billion