Ellipsis Wrote:
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> >
> via link from Trainnews.org
>
>
> A new report says California’s proposed high-speed
> railroad could cost state taxpayers more than 3X
> the official $43 billion cost projection. Three
> Bay Area analysts who have followed the project
> now estimate a $138 billion total cost.
>
> Increased costs comes from new construction
> developments and lower-than-expected federal
> contributions.
>
> The California High Speed Rail Authority expected
> about $18 billion from the federal government. In
> a new era of fiscal austerity, it’s unlikely to
> receive more than the $3 billion it has already
> secured.
>
> Cost estimates for the Fresno-to-Bakersfield
> segment were revised from $7 billion to between
> $10 million and $13.9 billion, an increase will
> cause construction costs to hit $66 billion.
>
> CAHSR has secured $9 billion in state bond
> revenue, but estimates that the state would have
> to borrow $4.6 billion a year for 30 years —
> resulting in a total cost of $138 billion.
> The authors noted “That would double California’s
> current debt.”
>
> Currently, the projected cost of the state’s
> high-speed rail project is $43 billion. The new
> report breaks down the revised spending:
>
> $66B Revised overall budget for project
> $3.3B Federal grant funding
> $9B State bond funding
> $5.3B Local government loans
> $48.2B Private sector loans
> $4.6B Annual payment for loans
> 30 years Duration of payback for loans
> $138B Total debt repayment of project
>
> The report was complied by William Warren,
> Stanford management professor Alain Enthoven and
> former World Bank economist William Grindley.
>
>
> Investors might wait to back rail project until
> trains are running
>
>
> Private investors may not be willing to invest in
> the California bullet train project until after it
> begins operating, the California High-Speed Rail
> Authority said in a letter to key legislators, an
> acknowledgment that again raises serious questions
> about how the state is going to fund the
> $43-billion construction over the next decade.
>
> Originally, the authority hoped to build the
> system based on three sources of funding: federal,
> state and private money. The letter by the
> authority, sent Friday, said for the first time
> that private investors are unlikely to put up cash
> before the system is operating.
>
> Although it is not impossible to find some private
> money, the letter said “the authority is planning
> for a more likely market scenario in which private
> capital is attracted based on the revenues of the
> project once revenues are proven.” The failure to
> attract private investors earlier is seen by many
> critics as evidence that the state’s plan is
> excessively risky.
>
>
> Time to pull the plug on this pipe dream?

Well, DOH!