The California High Speed Rail Authority’s proposed biennial plan paints an optimistic outlook for advancing the delay-plagued 500-mile rail connection between San Francisco to Los Angeles, even as its anticipated cost continues to rise.
According to the Authority’s Draft 2022 Business Plan submitted on Feb. 8 for public review and comment, the price tag for completing the project could top $105 billion, an increase of $5 billion from the 2020 business plan. The authority attributes the added costs to commitments aimed at minimizing community disruption, such as distancing the route from the Cesar E. Chavez National Monument in California’s Central Valley, and the addition of a tunnel near Hollywood Burbank Airport as part of a recently announced 14-mile segment between Burbank and downtown Los Angeles.