All we ever hear about California’s high-speed rail project is that it needs more funding, has been delayed, or both. It is time for California to face the reality that it will probably never be finished.
The latest update comes courtesy of the California Legislative Analyst’s Office at a transportation-focused budget hearing in Sacramento. Legislators were told that the project needed another $7 billion by June, that there was no plan to get that $7 billion on the horizon, and that failure to secure the money would lead to yet another delay. That delay would be on the Merced-to-Bakersfield line, the shortened line that the project is (allegedly) working on, while the full San Francisco-to-Los Angeles plan remains an afterthought.
The smaller portion that the state is working on, not even half the length of the original, is now expected to cost around the same amount as the original full project. The state is going to blow by the target year of 2030 for the shorter project. Meanwhile, the entire line was supposed to be done five years ago. Highlighting the lack of urgency, the budget hearing was shorter than expected because the High-Speed Rail Authority couldn’t be bothered to submit a completed update to legislators. That will supposedly come through sometime this summer, while the state’s fiscal 2026 begins in July.
DOGE COMES FOR CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL
All the while, California Democrats are pretending this project is still on its way to completion. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) touted that “this thing is starting to get very, very real” and that “the hard work is behind us.” However, the only good news remains that the project finally started laying track. The price has ballooned from the original $33 billion to over $100 billion, and the completion date has gone from 2020 to anyone’s best guess. If the High-Speed Rail Authority can’t even complete an update to legislators, why should anyone believe it can complete the high-speed rail?
California needs to come to grips with reality. The project is broken again, and there is no end in sight. It was always a pie-in-the-sky fantasy, especially in the worst-run state in the country. Continuing to sink billions into this money furnace is a fool’s errand.