Three possible reasons: The terrain in CA includes some mountains; the land acquisition is probably more expensive per acre than in TX; labor costs are higher in CA than in TX.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
I still do not understand how they get to $68 Billion, Houston to Dallas, 200+ miles, only $10 Billion. One is a private company the other is the government. So I guess that is one reason.
This change in building priority seems to have many benefits. Often many posters mention the last mile into stations. By changing to San Fran the use of Caltrain's track will give the HrSR route very few additional costs at first and service much sooner.. The Bakersfield - LAX ~100+ miles will be a very high cost.
Once the LAX public determines SFO will get the most benefit there will be a cry to build the final miles to LAX and San Diego.
Originally the LA to Bakersfield segment was to take a straight shot thru (under?) Tejon Pass, but developers fought it. So Palmdale area boosters lobbied to have it run thru their area. Apparently it was thought they could upgrade the commuter line, and the hard part would be a new Tehachapi line. However, engineering studies showed the commuter line would need extensive rebuilding with many tunnels. I think the Tejon line is starting to look better, however, I expect the Palmdale/Antelope Valley faction is now too well entrenched to give up their high speed dreams. I would guess these problems and esclating costs caused the shift to constructing the north half first.
"In a huge win for the Bay Area, the state will build the first 250 miles of bullet train track between San Jose and the Bakersfield area and now aims to offer service on the line in less than a decade, according to a report set to be released Friday.
The new plan represents a seismic shift from the California High-Speed Rail Authority's 2012 decision to build the first segment of the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles rail line between Burbank and the Central Valley."
http://www.mercurynews.com/california/ci_29529618/california-bullet-train-headed-first-san-jose-big
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