California’s High-Speed Rail Project Faces Obstacles
It’s quite unusual for a state to spend billions yet still seek more funding, but that’s the current situation with California’s high-speed rail initiative. Just last month, the federal government decided to cut $4 billion in funding due to a history of missed deadlines and ballooning budgets. Surprisingly, rather than halting the project, California officials celebrated by sharing construction updates and progress photos on social media.
I remember a decade ago trying to illustrate the costs of this high-speed rail project. I figured that for the same amount of money, you could book multiple round-trip flights around California, take a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto, and even enjoy a couple of nights at a luxury hotel, with cash left over for sushi. Yet, here we are, ten years down the line, and the bullet train has yet to arrive. Instead, the bureaucracy continues to churn, fueled by taxpayer dollars.
High-Speed Rail is Not the Only Costly Mistake
With federal funding drying up, the California High-Speed Railroad Bureau seems to excel in promoting its achievements instead of reflecting on the setbacks. They claim to have generated “15,500 jobs” under the banner of being “America’s only high-speed rail project.” Images circulate of construction workers surrounded by American flags, seemingly trying to lend an air of patriotism to a project that many see as a failure.
Voters had clear expectations when they endorsed the initiative back in 2008. The plan promised a 220-mile electric train linking San Francisco and Los Angeles for $33 billion—a project akin to the well-lauded Japanese Shinkansen or France’s TGV. However, costs have since skyrocketed to $128 billion, while the project’s completion timeline continues to stretch into the distant future.
So, what is being built? A fraction of the railway between Merced and Bakersfield—two cities that weren’t even central to the original vision. It feels like constructing an airport shuttle between a cornfield and a rest area: pointless and unwanted.
California’s Green Energy Campaign Struggles
Presently, the High-Speed Railway Bureau is banking on “job creation” as its main line of defense. Sure, that’s a valid point. When the project’s credibility as a transportation solution falters, job numbers can serve as a safety net. But, as Milton Friedman once quipped, if job creation is the sole goal, handing out spoons might be as effective as shovels.
Ten years on, the math remains the same. You could offer each Californian—about 39 million people—a luxurious trip to Tokyo for far less:
- Coach to Tokyo: $1,200 per person
- Round-trip bullet train ticket to Kyoto: $200
- Two nights at the Ritz-Carlton: $1,400
Calculating that out, the total comes to $2,800 per person, leading to an overall cost of around $109 billion for the entire population. Just to put it bluntly, that’s still $19 billion less than the current California train project.
Despite the mounting challenges, the initiative pushes forward. Sacramento doesn’t seem keen to pull the plug. Even Governor Gavin Newsom, who “suspended” the project in 2019, quietly reinstated it three years later.
It may seem like he’s positioning himself for a broader political role, but if that happens, this project will inevitably be part of his legacy—perhaps best dubbed “The Newsom Line,” a monument to an ambitious plan gone awry.
A Different Approach to Transportation
If California really wants efficient transportation, it should be looking at expanding low-cost airlines. Instead of funding what appears to be an endless employment initiative disguised as a rail network, the focus needs to change. Governor Newsom, it’s time to either wrap this up or acknowledge that your name might be forever linked to America’s most expensive “ghost train.”
