California’s high-speed rail project faces justified criticism, according to the state’s transport secretary, as its completion remains challenging.
The line connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco is now estimated to cost a staggering $126 billion, surpassing the total federal funding Amtrak has received since its inception in 1971, as highlighted in a critical 60 Minutes report.
This figure is a significant increase from the $33 billion that voters were initially informed of in 2008 when the project was proposed.
After nearly 20 years, what was meant to be a sleek train journey of under three hours has become a delayed, scaled-back, and extremely costly endeavor, with the earliest opening projected for 2033.
No tracks have been laid yet, with progress mostly seen on the segment between Bakersfield and Merced.
In Fresno, the project is visible, but locals deride it as “Stonehenge”.
“We’re now in 2026. There are no trains. There’s no track laid. It was a complete bait and switch,” Rep. Vince Fong told 60 Minutes.
“The California High-Speed Rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement.”
California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin acknowledged that ”mistakes have been made” and some of the criticism was ”very fair.”
“I don’t think the voters fully understood and neither did we… what it was gonna take to actually get this project delivered,” he said.
By 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom expressed skepticism about the original vision, stating, “Right now, there simply isn’t a path… from San Francisco to LA.”
His administration refocused the project on the Central Valley—a stretch with limited demand and even fewer expected riders.
The overall cost has ballooned to about $126 billion, leaving a massive funding gap of approximately $90 billion. Officials remain optimistic about securing the necessary funds. “The entire amount… not there today. But do we believe we can get those funds to get the– the project done?? Absolutely,” Omishakin said.
Federal funding has been withdrawn, with critics condemning the project as a waste of billions in taxpayer dollars with no results to show. For now, California’s high-speed rail remains a vision caught between ambition and reality—a partially built emblem of grand dreams and the persistent question: can the state complete it?
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