Bullet train’s $98-billion cost could be its biggest obstacle
The ambitious plan to connect Anaheim and San Francisco with high-speed trains has encountered plenty of obstacles, including intensifying resistance from wealthy and poor communities lying in the track’s path.
But the bullet train’s biggest threat could be its ballooning price tag, which this week doubled to an estimated $98 billion.
Backers on Tuesday announced a major strategy shift, unveiling a reworked blueprint for the first leg that would delay completion 13 years to 2033.
RELATED:
Bullet train cost estimates rise to $98.5 billion
Union Pacific voices major objections to bullet-train plans
-- Ralph Vartabedian, Dan Weikel and Richard Simon, Los Angeles Times
Photo: A freight train rolls past the Buena Park Metrolink station. Initially, bullet train service would be blended with the existing Metrolink network in Southern California. Credit: Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times / February 18, 2010.