A 13.5-mile tunnel will make or break California's bullet train
LOS ANGELES - When the first California bullet train pulls out of San Jose one day, a crucial part of the journey will be a 13.5-mile tunnel beneath the winding peaks and valleys of Pacheco Pass.
Trains will run at top speed along a straight and level route beneath the Diablo Range, shooting through the nation's longest and most advanced transportation tunnel.
But the massive scope and complexity of the tunnel are at the heart of new concerns about the viability of the state project.
A Los Angeles Times analysis has found that tunnel construction could exhaust the $5.5 billion budget for the entire 54-mile segment from Gilroy to Chowchilla.
Some of the world's top tunnel experts put the cost of the tunnel at anywhere from $5.6 billion to $14.4 billion, reflecting the high cost of boring through tricky geology and seismically active areas.
The Gilroy-to-Chowchilla route also requires a 1.5-mile tunnel
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