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The initial budget for the Gotthard Base Tunnel was CHF 8 billion; the actual costs are now up to about CHF 12 billion. So not exactly on budget either. :) The increased costs were because of geology (4.5%), changed requirements (6.3%), environmental enhancements (1.3%) and upgrades for rail technology and safety (8.5%).

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Hm, that adds up to ~20%; yet the project went 50% over. So the bulk of the overrun is ... something else?

Anyway, the point of these large project is, we will need them. We can build them easier now, than later as congestion and land prices go up even more. When calculating overruns, I'd like to compare the ultimate cost with, what would it cost if we hadn't? Congestion, choked commerce, slowed economic growth all cost something.

Sometimes you have to buckle down and actually build the brave new world. "Skate toward the puck" is how its sometimes called - build the thing we will need to be a functional, thriving society in 100 years.

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