SACRAMENTO, Calif. (FOX26) — The California High-Speed Rail Authority released its initial Project Update Report for 2025 in March, revealing revised cost estimates for the Merced to Bakersfield segment.
The 2024 Business Plan estimated that the segment would cost $35.3 billion to deliver, but the revised plan estimates this segment will cost anywhere between $34.9 billion and $38.5 billion.
The Authority attributed the higher end of the cost estimate to several factors, including inflation and escalation, which account for $2.83 billion, and added contingency for risk and other factors, totaling $1.97 billion…