SACRAMENTO — The cost of completing the under-construction segment of California’s high speed rail line in the Central Valley is projected to increase by $1.8 billion, bringing the total cost to $12.4 billion, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The Times cites the draft of an internal report by the state’s high speed rail authority, to be used in a report to the legislature today. It updates the plan by Gov. Gavin Newsom to complete central section of the line between Bakersfield and Merced. Earlier this year, Newsom postponed plans to build the entire Los Angeles-to-San Francisco route, saying there was no funding for the estimated $77-billion project. [See “California governor sinks SF-LA high speed rail plans,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 12, 2019.]

The $1.8-billion increase reflects costs for only part of the Central Valley segment, the 119 miles between Madera and Wasco, Calif. It includes $477 million for actual cost incrases, $362 million for increases in the scope of the project, and almost $1 billion for contingencies, the Times reports. The current estimate to complete the line between Merced and Bakersfield is $20.4 billion.