State Unveils Its High-Speed Rail Plan ; Even Supporters Gasp at $11.6 Billion Cost

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Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday unveiled the state's application for federal high-speed rail funding, and its price tag - - $11.6 billion, or $4 billion more than an earlier estimate -- left even the plan's supporters gasping.

"Soft costs" such as engineering and design work, which were not included in the earlier $7.6 billion estimate, and inflation account for the increase in the cost of the plan to link Buffalo and the state's other major cities with high-speed rail, said Skip Carrier, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation.

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State Unveils Its High-Speed Rail Plan ; Even Supporters Gasp at $11.6 Billion Cost

The application detailed $58 million in requested funding for rail improvements between Buffalo and Niagara Falls, but that paled in comparison to the $5.5 billion request ...

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