High-Speed Rail Station Means $650 Million in New Taxes, Fees

The tunnel that will connect the new bullet train to Caltrain will be costly.

We hear that train a-coming -- it says, "pay up, Bay Area!"

Some $650 million in new taxes, fees, and other tolls are needed to pay for the tunnel that will connect the Transbay Terminal to the Caltrain station at Fourth and King streets, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Gov. Jerry Brown recently celebrated the signing of legislation that allows the state to spend billions to build the high-speed rail line which will eventually connect San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2028. But none of that money is earmarked for local projects, like the tunnel that's needed, else the bullet train "dead-end several blocks from downtown proper," the newspaper reported.

"The current plan is to raise $300 million from higher bridge tolls and $350 million in San Francisco sales-tax dollars," the newspaper reported.

There's as yet no debate about the sales tax or the bridge toll increase scheduled.

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