KNIGHT: Riding the rails to insolvency at high speed

By: American Decency Staff

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) says in a new report that the light-rail “Purple Line” expanding Washington, D.C.’s rail system further into the Maryland suburbs will cost $1 billion more than originally estimated.

Well, of course it will. Only suckers believe in initial estimates on any government project.

Remember the Big Dig? The Central Artery/Tunnel Project in Boston, on which construction began in 1991, was supposed to be completed in 1998 at a cost of $2.6 billion.

The price tag ballooned to a shocking $15 billion by 2007. But wait. That giant sucking sound is now projected to cost federal and state taxpayers more than $24 billion, including interest. Debt service alone is $100 million annually.

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