HIGH SPEED RAIL Cost estimates don’t make any sense
July 3rd, 2008
The California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) estimates the cost of the segment from San Jose to San Francisco at $5 billion. We have been saying for quite some time, these estimates are way off the mark on the low side.
The new cost estimate for the BART extension to San Jose, a 16.1 mile run has just risen to $6.2 billion. That equates to $385 million per mile.
How can CHSRA justify at all the $5 billion price tag for the 50 mile run from San Jose to San Francisco. Numerous grade crossings (40 - 50 at $100,000,000 each), electrification, tunneling in SF, station costs, some land acquisition, payments to CalTrain and Cities for land rights. The cost is going to be much closer to $15 billion than the $5 billion they estimate.
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