California High-Speed Rail Project Cost Estimate Rises Above $215 Billion

Internal California government documents estimate the cost of the state's high-speed rail project will exceed $215 billion. The revised figure covers construction of 162 miles of track between Bakersfield and Merced. This segment represents a portion of the originally planned 381-mile route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

California voters approved a $33 billion bond measure for the project in 2008. The initial plan called for service between Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours. The current scope begins in Bakersfield, roughly 90 minutes north of Los Angeles by car, and ends in Merced, more than an hour from San Francisco.

No track or trains have been placed in service on the route. Earlier versions of the project date to 1982, when the state legislature authorized $2 billion for a study of a Los Angeles to San Diego line. That effort ended without construction after legal challenges over land rights.