New $6.7 billion price tag makes Caltrain's SF extension among costliest in the world

Jan. 21—For marathon runners, the last mile is often the hardest — and the same apparently holds true for extending Caltrain into downtown San Francisco.

Preparations for the final 1.3-mile leg — pushing trains to the city's Salesforce Tower — are finally picking up speed after decades of on-and-off planning. But there's one major hurdle: a new $6.7 billion price tag.

The rail line — also planned as the finishing northern stretch for California's High-Speed Rail — saw a cost increase of 34% from a 2015 budget, according to a new estimate from the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the project.

At $5.15 billion per mile of new track, the Caltrain undertaking is now runner-up for the world's most costly transit project, behind New York's notoriously pricey East Side Access project, according to a database at New York University.

The escalating figure is not holding back transit planners. They have set an ambitious 2032 completion date, allocated over $1.7 million toward lobbying the state and federal government for funds, and rebranded the extension with a new name: "The Portal" ............(more)

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail/news/21293506/ca-new-67-billion-price-tag-makes-caltrains-sf-extension-among-costliest-in-the-world