Scott Touting Increase in California High-Speed Rail Costs

Gov. Rick Scott took a moment Tuesday to enjoy his decision earlier this year to reject federal money to create a bullet train between Orlando and Tampa.

I hope everybody saw ... the headlines, Scott told a media gathering in his office. Cost projection for California bullet train jumps to nearly $100 billion dollars.

On Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times reported that the California High-Speed Rail Authority planned to stretch out the construction timetable for the South California-to-Bay Area high-speed rail to 2033, 13 years later than planned.

The extension adds $98.5 billion to the works projected cost that grew from $34 billion to $43 billion in 2009.

Theyre now on the hook for I guess another $50 billion, the state is, Scott said.

In February, Scott, over the objection of many state legislators, turned down $2.4 billion from the federal government for the Florida line.

At the time, Scott cited anticipated increases in costs that would have to be covered by Florida and findings from the Libertarian Reason Foundation which questioned the ridership projections for the line.