[SanDiegoUnionTribune] The California bullet train will take longer to build and cost more than previously estimated under a soon-to-be-released business plan, but plans to begin the project by linking the Bay Area to the Central Valley remain intact, according to the rail authority's new chief executive, Brian Kelly.Kelly, who took over leadership of the project Feb. 1, said in a wide-ranging interview that he plans to make transparent the challenges facing the project in an effort to bolster confidence that it can still be successfully executed. The rail authority will issue its 2018 business plan with the new cost estimates March 9.
Kelly did not disclose the new price tag for completing the entire Los Angeles to San Francisco system, but he made clear that the $64-billion estimate from the 2016 business plan will change.
Since the earlier estimate was unveiled, the state has confronted extended delays in buying land for a 119-mile segment in the Central Valley, encountered higher costs to build safety barriers where its tracks will run close to freight lines, sustained higher costs to move underground utilities and agreed to pay claims to construction firms whose work was delayed.
The problems led to a disclosure last month that the 119 miles will cost $10.6 billion, up from the original estimate of about $6 billion. When that was unveiled at a rail authority board just days after Kelly took over, the authority did not say whether it would impact the total system price.
"There will be a cost increase," Kelly said. "You cannot have that cost increase in the Central Valley without affecting the overall program cost."
The new estimate will be given in a range of costs, reflecting "too many unknowns to be specific," he added.