5 replies to this topic

[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times,  11/3/15:

 

At lawmakers' urging, agency reveals report on growing bullet train costs

 

The California high-speed rail authority bowed to pressure from California legislators and members of Congress late Tuesday and released a copy of a 2013 report showing a large estimated increase in the cost of building the initial segment of the bullet train project.

 

The report, disclosed by the Times in a story Oct. 25, said Parsons Brinckerhoff had briefed state officials in October 2013 that the projected cost of the first phase of the bullet train system had risen 31%. The state did not use the increase, however, in its 2014 business plan four months later.

 

A dozen members of Congress and four members of the California assembly had written to the state and to Parsons Brinckerhoff asking for disclosure of the report.

 

Rail authority chairman Dan Richard and CEO Jeff Morales released the document and said the cost estimates it contained are part of an iterative process and that the numbers were "preliminary, still in development and subject to review clarification and refinement." They say initial contracts have come in below budget.

 

"The authority under the present leadership has always been forthcoming about the costs and risks of the program," Richard said.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times,  11/5/15:

 

 

Editorial Red flags for high-speed rail

 

Did the California High-Speed Rail Authority downplay potential cost increases for the state's controversial bullet train? In a draft PowerPoint presentation dated October 2013, the agency's project management consultant estimated that the cost of the first phase of the line, from Burbank to Merced, could grow to about $36 billion. Yet the authority ended up putting a lower cost estimate in its official business plan released four months later, The Times recently reported.

 

The authority had rejected The Times' request under the California Public Records Act for a copy of the presentation. Only this week, after lawmakers called on Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) to subpoena the report, did the authority release the 22-page document.

 

True, the presentation was labeled a draft. And authority officials said they used "scores of analyses and assessments" to develop the updated cost estimates. Still, it's worrisome that the staff was given a detailed report on increasing costs from the project management contractor, and yet that information is missing from the 2014 business plan the authority presented to lawmakers and the public. The agency says it chose the more optimistic estimates because it's confident that it can keep the costs down, an ability we won't be able to measure until the project is well underway.

 

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[CNJRoss]

The Sacramento Bee, 11/4:

 

McCarthy: Use high-speed rail funds to quench California’s drought

 

Highlights

-House leader is persistent critic of project

-State broke ground on system in January

-Others have suggested redirecting funds

 

WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a persistent critic of California’s high-speed rail program, said that the funds for the project should be diverted to quench the state’s severe drought.

 

The California Republican made the proposal Wednesday after the Los Angeles Times reported that the system’s contractor pegged the cost of building the initial segment at 31 percent above the original estimate, but the California High Speed Rail

 

Authority did not use that figure in its 2014 business plan.

 

The authority took issue with the newspaper’s report, saying that some costs in the $68 billion project have actually come down as bids have gone out.

 

That didn’t stop McCarthy from pitching a proposal that isn’t likely to happen.

 

“Moving funds from high-speed rail to drought relief would take the courage to acknowledge that current policy is a waste of time and money and then change course,” McCarthy said in a statement.

 

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Read more here: http://www.sacbee.co...l#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.sacb

 

ee.com/news/state/california/water-and-drought/article43045029.html#storylink=cpy

[CNJRoss]

AP via Post-Intelligencer, Seattle, WA 1/27:

 

California lawmakers to scrutinize high-speed rail

 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The chairman of the board that oversees California's high-speed rail project said Wednesday that the next projection will likely lower the cost from the current $68 billion, but he is less confident about its current predictions for how quickly the system can be built.

 

Board Chairman Dan Richard and other officials were called to testify at an Assembly hearing examining the project's cost projections and other concerns raised by lawmakers.

 

"There are a range of uncertainties here, so I can't look you in the eye and tell you it will be $68 billion. I will tell you this: When you see our new business plan, the number's going to be less than $68 billion," Richard told a Republican lawmaker who has been critical of the project.

 

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[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times, 1/13/17:
 

California's bullet train is hurtling toward a multibillion-dollar overrun, a confidential federal report warns

 

 

California’s bullet train could cost taxpayers 50% more than estimated — as much as $3.6 billion more. And that’s just for the first 118 miles through the Central Valley, which was supposed to be the easiest part of the route between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

 

A confidential Federal Railroad Administration risk analysis, obtained by The Times, projects that building bridges, viaducts, trenches and track from Merced to Shafter, just north of Bakersfield, could cost $9.5 billion to $10 billion, compared with the original budget of $6.4 billion.

 

The federal document outlines far-reaching management problems: significant delays in environmental planning, lags in processing invoices for federal grants and continuing failures to acquire needed property.

 

Continue here w/video presentation.

[CNJRoss]

Los Angeles Times, 1/18/17:
 

Federal warning of higher bullet-train costs prompts sharp opinions, plans for congressional hearings

 

 

A confidential estimate by federal regulators that the cost of California’s bullet train project could jump significantly has prompted critics of the $64-billion Los Angeles-to-San Francisco rail effort to call for new investigations and proponents to disclaim reports that project costs are growing.

 

SNIP

 

State officials have accused The Times of mischaracterizing its findings. In a letter to members of the Legislature, the California High-Speed Rail Authority accused The Times of incorrectly using internal deliberations to suggest cost overruns and delays that are not borne out by facts.

 

But critics of the project said the federal analysis validates their concerns that the state will be saddled with multibillion-dollar unbudgeted costs for the foreseeable future.

 

 

Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Turlock), chairman of the House rail subcommitee, said he would call for hearings and an audit in the near future.  .  .  .

 

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