CA High Speed Rail Chugs Along—New Business Plan Released

Last week, the California High-Speed Rail Authority issued the 101-page draft of its 2014 Business Plan. The plan will be available for public comment for two months before a final version is submitted to the California State Legislature on May 1.

According to a report by Tim Sheehan, the new business plan “estimates the construction cost for Phase 1 of the statewide project from San Francisco to Los Angeles at about $67.6 billion.”

The new cost marks a slight decrease from the most recent, prior estimates: “The new forecast is down slightly from $68.4 billion estimated in 2012, but still more than double the $33 billion predicted in 2008 when California voters approved Proposition 1A, a $9.9 billion bond measure to help finance high-speed rail planning and construction.”

Added to what appears to be forward motion for the project, Tom Zoellner also recently penned an op-ed asking California not to give up on the idea—with some stipulations.