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POPULATION REPORT POSTED ON OUR KCRA THREE APP. KELLIE: THE COST OF CALIFORNIA’S HIGH SPEED RAIL PROJECT IS GOING UP AGAIN. THE RAIL AUTHORITY NOW SAYS WILL COST ALMOST $1.8 BILLION MORE THAN EXPECTED FOR THE CENTRAL VALLEY SECTION. HIGH-SPEED RAIL RELEASED ITS UPDATED COST ESTIMATE IN A N BUSINESS PLAN PRESENTED TO LAWMAKERS TODAY. THE INITIAL CENTRAL VALLEY PORTION FROM MERCED TO BAKERSFIELD WILL NOW COST $20. BILLION. AND ACCORDING TO THE PLAN LAID OUT TODAY, THE CENTRAL VALLEY LINE WILL BE RUNNING SOMETIME BEFORE THE YEAR 2030. PLANNED TO BUILD 130 MILES O TRACK FOR $6 BILLION, LESS THAN

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California's High Speed Rail Authority is asking for more money to continue building the controversial project in the Central Valley.However, some lawmakers are questioning how much more to spend on the ballooning project.The rail authority said in its new business plan, it is looking to increase its budget for the Central Valley section of the project by $1.8 billion.The authority is trying to maintain some support despite the growing cost and concerns about what the end result will be.Officials released the updated cost estimate in its latest business plan presented to lawmakers at the state Capitol on Wednesday.That cost estimate puts the Central Valley portion of the rail, which goes from Merced to Bakersfield, at $20.4 billion.The new business plan also utilizes more state workers for oversight as opposed to consultants. The plan maintains it will still be a high-speed rail and not a regular train or Amtrak service. According to the plan laid out Wednesday, the Central Valley line would be operating sometime before 2030.Originally, the plan was to build 130 miles of track in the Central Valley for $6 billion, less than a third of the expected cost outlined.It's been more than a decade since California voters approved nearly $10 billion in bond funding for the project. Its cost has steadily climbed since.State rail officials issued an update to the delay-plagued project Wednesday, offering the first formal look at changes suggested in February by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom. Officials had been focused on building a segment from the Central Valley to San Francisco but had not yet come up with enough money to tunnel through a mountain pass.Now the focus is shifting to first building a line from Bakersfield to Merced. The update stresses completing the full line is still the ultimate goal, something Newsom wants."This policy recommendation is not a Central Valley line instead of Silicon Valley to Central Valley line," it reads. "It is a Central Valley line first."Newsom addressed the project's longstanding problems earlier this year."Right now, there simply isn't a path to get from Sacramento to San Diego, let alone from San Francisco to (Los Angeles). I wish there were," he said in January. "However, we do have the capacity to complete a high-speed rail link between Merced and Bakersfield."Money for the project comes from the bond, the federal government and revenue from a state program that charges polluters to emit greenhouse gases. The Trump administration has threatened to revoke the $3.5 billion in federal money because of the project's delays, but a final decision has not been made. Rail officials say they have enough money to complete the line if the state keeps that federal money and if roughly $4 billion left in bond money is released.There are still questions for rail officials to answer about the new Merced to Bakersfield line, such as where the station will be located in Merced, how many people are expected to ride the train and how it will work alongside existing bus and train services. The costs and timeline of the project could change again in the next business plan.---The Associated Press contributed to this story