A business plan that was released Tuesday projects that the cost to link the state’s major cities by high-speed rail has ballooned to nearly $100 billion over 20 years, accounting for inflation. The plan comes after Gov. Jerry Brown appointed two new members to California’s high-speed rail commission and asked them to assess the proposal’s viability. They concluded that the project was doable, if built in phases, but that the cost would be more than double the original projection. The report shows the estimated cost at $98.5 billion if the route between San Francisco and Anaheim is completed in 2033. The initial estimate to build the system when voters approved bond financing for it in 2008 was $43 billion. In non-adjusted, 2010 dollars, that amount is now $65.4 billion. The plan calls for retaining the most controversial aspect: starting construction in the Central Valley. Critics want to start in more populated areas of Southern or Northern California in case money runs out before the full system is finished. But $3.5 billion in federal money is contingent upon the Central Valley route, and construction must begin before October 2012.