maudibjr: Public rail project are crazy out of control  financially in the US.   Multiple multiple times the cost of even bigger growth projects in the UK and France.   There must be some skimming on level that would make a mafia so blush

iat's required permits, inspections, and consultants required to confirm the plans and supervise the project.  Public building programs cost around 500% of those in the EU or elsewhere.  Similar to our absurd healthcare system which is only 3x as expensive for consumers as any other country on earth.

wildcardjack: Every decade it got delayed added new costs. First it's health and safety. Then it's property rights. Then it's union wages. Okay, maybe not in that order.

Everyone marvels at how China "get things done" but it's because they don't have any of those.

It's local, state, and federal regulations.  This means approval from elected officials, architects, engineering firms, and consultant boards to "supervise" construction.  Tax payers tolerate massive cost overrides and delays so firms under bid knowing the politicians will potentially double or triple the budget later.
A relatively small project in NYC, the Second Avenue expansion cost $17 billion to complete a 1.8 mile of subway that already had the stations and other construction already in progress.
In my town we are building a new K-5 public school with a pre-school building.  The approved budget is $260 million dollars (replacing an existing school, no new land required).  We are around five months into the project and the builder is crying poor, demands $20 million more.  Why?  The frkkin school is 90% concrete and drywall ffs.  Then I get the town budget, it's pages of consultants each charging hundreds of thousands to "review" or "supervise" the project.