High-Speed Rail Ticket Price Skyrockets

Train from San Francisco to Los Angeles will cost more, rail authority now says

The costs of the project to bring a high-speed train between the Bay Area and Los Angeles are skyrocketing faster than the promised MPH.

The new numbers came in an updated business plan, which California's high-speed rail authority released Monday.

When voters approved a $9 billion bond measure to help build the rail line, the cost of a one-way ticket was projected to be $55. Now it is expected to cost $105.   That's 83 percent of a comparable plane ticket.

Of course, that doesn't factor in the cost of getting to the airport, in time or money. A cab from San Francisco, where two-thirds of the Bay Area's high-speed rail passengers are expected to board the train, costs about $45, and even BART costs $8.10.

The fare hike, prompted by rising costs of building the system, is expected to turn off millions of potential passengers.

High-speed rail leaders admit the costs have changed, but quickly add the "spirit of what the people voted for" with Proposition 1A remains the same.

They are spinning the increases by claiming the higher fares and fewer passengers will actually add up to higher profits.

Construction is not supposed to start until 2012.  The San Francisco to LA line won't be complete until 2020 and that is only if all goes according to plan, which never happens here in the Golden State.

Contact Us