The Latest: Lawmakers back audit of California bullet train

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Latest on a request to audit California’s high-speed rail project (all times local):

Noon

California’s high-speed rail project will face fresh scrutiny from the state auditor.

A legislative panel approved an audit of the bullet train project Tuesday with bipartisan support. State auditor Elaine Howle says it will take her team six to nine months to complete the audit.

Howle has been tasked with examining the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s process for containing costs and staying on its timeline, as well as the project’s environmental and economic impacts.

The audit request comes after a $3 billion jump in costs for a Central Valley segment that’s partly under construction. Lawmaker say they hope to cut through the political noise surrounding the project and get a better grip on the facts.

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8 a.m.

A bipartisan duo of lawmakers is seeking an audit of California’s high-speed rail project following a nearly $3 billion jump in costs.

Democratic Sen. Jim Beall of San Jose and Republican Assemblyman Jim Patterson are pitching their request to a legislative audit committee Tuesday. A representative from the California High-Speed Rail Authority has also been asked to testify.

California’s plan to build a high-speed train from Los Angeles to San Francisco by 2029 is estimated to cost more than $65 billion, a price tag that’s gone up substantially in the last decade. The cost of an initial segment in the Central Valley recently jumped by $3 billion.

A biennial business plan outlining the project’s future is due to the Legislature later this year.