India levels of incompetence.
By 2012, the US Department of Transportation’s Inspector General demanded an audit on the project, after it learned of a 14-year delay and 100% cost increase.
Poor management and a lack of oversight on New York transportation projects were blamed, as well as claims that contractors in the city were paid more than in other US cities and that politicians and trade unions had forced the MTA to hire more workers than were needed.
Work to add two bypass tunnels within the Harold interlocking railroad junction – the busiest rail junction in the United States – also proved costly.
Around $295 million was allocated for the bypass in 2011 but by 2015 the tunnels fell behind schedule because Amtrak and the MTA could not agree on track access schedules. The delays raised construction costs by almost $1 billion alone.