It's no April Fool's Day joke that high-speed rail is continuing to burn through cash in the Central Valley with ever more delays and reduced expectations of service--if it ever starts service. We noted that the originator of this boondoggle, Quentin Kopp, saw the light and become a vocal opponent eight years ago here in Part 87. That was a long time ago on any construction project, but the problems with this one grow by the year. Kopp published an opinion piece in the Daily Journal that highlights a number of problems:
While I was chairman of the authority, a state general obligation bond for $9,950,000,000 was approved on Nov. 4, 2008, by taxpaying California voters, with specific provisions safeguarding taxpayer money and construction and operation of high-speed rail, including a ban on taxpayer subsidy for operating expenses.....Bond proceeds were intended to stimulate private investment, federal appropriations and local investment. Sadly, my promises to voting taxpayers haven’t been kept since I left the authority governing board in 2009. Not one penny has been raised from private investors or local governments. There’s $5.5 billion of voter-approved general obligation bonds unsold.
While Kopp focuses on the financing legalities, the cost side of the equation is slipping out of control. Another contractor has raised the big, red flag on the Authorities' failures and the impact on construction time--where time really is money. The LA Times reports
A major construction team on the California bullet train project notified the state rail authority this month that it will not complete a 65-mile section of the future route in Kings County until at least April 14, 2025 — nearly two years after the date that the state included in a business plan adopted Thursday. A construction team led by the Spanish firm Dragados described a chaotic system for projecting future construction progress because of state delays in securing land for construction. Dragados said it has had to hire workers as land becomes available and then lay them off as it awaits new parcels. It said that “trepidation” among subcontractors and suppliers is resulting in higher risk that must be priced into bids for work.
Combing through the LA Times article, we can assemble a partial look at the massive overruns from delays and change orders:
Contractor Distance Known Overruns Pending Overruns Parcels To
Acquire
Dragados 65 miles $134 M approved $642.5M 264
Tutor Perini 31 miles n/a $250M 500+
Ferrovial 22 miles $193 M approved n/a n/a
Back to Quentin Kopp for the finale:
Caltrain electrification was blessed by the Legislature in 2018 with $775 million from the high-speed general obligation bond, which is illegal under Proposition 1A notwithstanding its worthiness, and is presently subject to a lawsuit by Kings County and other Californians, including me, pending in the California Court of Appeal.
Good for him. Eight years past his epiphany he's still at it.
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