$6600 per FOOT! for a railroad line

[Chuuku Davis]

There has got be some mistake
CA gives Feinstein's husband's company the contract
How many bids?

Will someone please post the actual facts?
I have got to be missing something

[freshwest]

1. Where did you get this? Give us a link to read it all.

Although it's not just rail, of course, so that figure may be about a lot more. If it's the high speed rail, that's a huge cost. Check out the ones in Japan and the EU. Technical wonders.

[Cicada]

2. lowest of five bids, way lower than expected

CA initially thought it would cost 2 billion. The winning bid is 900 million plus. Ten percent below next cheapest bid, 60% below highest bid. This is not a normal rail line - it's a line for high speed rail, more than 200 mph. Without this rail line CA would have to build additional urban airports which would cost so much this rail line is a massive money-saver even if it cost three times as much.

[Gravitycollapse]

7. Knowing it's high speed rail completely changes this story.

[Chuuku Davis]

20. Thank you very much

I appreciate the real information instead of the coffee shop rumors I heard yesterday.
$550 per inch still sounds high to me but I am ignorant about such things

[RetroLounge]

3. "I have got to be missing something"

I would guess, yes, you are.

RL

[JaneyVee]

4. That's a good price considering how many good paying middle class Union jobs it will support.

That includes everything from manufacturing, trucking, & labor costs to install.

[FSogol]

22. Probably includes the civil engineering and site work too. n/t

[Newsjock]

5. It's apparently the outrage du jour at certain RW sites

Shows up rather easy in teh google, but not from any legitimate news sites.

Oh, yeah, welcome to DU 'n stuff. Enjoy your ... stay.

[freshwest]

10. More Feinstein bashing, like Pelosi, Kennedy, etc. Same sources most likely.

[Gravitycollapse]

6. This OP is useless without some sort of factual perspective about the cost of building track.

Not being knowledgeable on the subject, I have absolutely no way to reference this. It could be high, it could be low or it could be just right.

[aikoaiko]

8. I know it's about 5k per parking space in a large lot

I could see modern railroad lines being pricey

[onehandle]

9. Whatever puts more rails out there.

Dig up Ronald Reagan's bones and sell them on eBay to help pay.

[Warpy]

11. That's actually not a bad price since it

involves purchasing the right of way, properly grading and surfacing the road bed, then putting down ties and steel rails.

How much would the Interstates cost to build now? My guess is that they wouldn't be that much cheaper.

[alittlelark]

12. +1000

[TheMadMonk]

13. IIRC 4 lanes was $1000 metre/yard about 20 years ago in Australia.

Don't think that included the right of way either.

[elleng]

14. Facts, please.

Contract for what? To construct? To acquire right of way? Both? Other? Location?

[bluedigger]

15. I guess you're referring to this.

Under a contract awarded by the California High-Speed Rail Authority, a URS joint venture is providing planning and engineering services for one third of a proposed 800-mile, high-speed rail system from San Francisco and Sacramento to San Diego. The system will be the largest public works project in California history.

URS and our partners are tasked with developing two contiguous segments of the system—from Fresno to Palmdale and from Palmdale to Los Angeles. As part of this work, we are responsible for defining the detailed design and construction requirements for the two segments. This includes planning for grade separations, crossings and bridges, as well as for more than 30 miles of tunnels and viaducts that will pass through the Tehachapi and San Gabriel mountain ranges in Southern California. In addition, URS is developing design concepts for the rail stations along these segments of the route—all of which will be multimodal transportation hubs with direct links to local and regional highways, airports and transit systems.

Also, we are identifying the agricultural, residential, industrial and recreational areas along the route to determine which alignments will have the least environmental impact. This includes studying the potential effects of train noise and vibration on people, buildings and the local ecology. A series of public meetings are being held to keep local communities informed about the various design concepts and any mitigation measures, which will be incorporated into the project to help protect the environment.http://www.urscorp.com/Projects/projView.php?s=926&pn=2&sec=14

It's a little more complicated than hiring a bunch of Chinese and Irish and giving them a bunch of dynamite and pick axes these days.

[HiPointDem]

16. so is it true that feinstein's husband's firm got the contract?

personally, i have a problem with the family members of legislators getting government contracts, whatever the cost.

[bluedigger]

21. Then you have a big problem with URS.

According to wiki they rank #14 in Federal contractors. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_100_Contractors_of_the_U.S._federal_government

Another source has them at #43 in 2012.
http://washingtontechnology.com/toplists/top-100-lists/2012.aspx

Good luck finding legislators with no association whatsoever with government contractors. Maybe Bernie Sanders...

[Recursion]

17. That sounds surprisingly low

Glad to hear it.

[hobbit709]

18. What's the cost of a highway project-I doubt it's less.

[Warren Stupidity]

19. Republicans are very scared of trains.

It seems to be related to some sort of childhood trauma.

[FSogol]

23. Didn't "Atlas Shrugged" tell them to love trains?

Life must be confusing for the poor deluded freeps.