Is California’s high-speed rail project the biggest infrastructure boondoggle in history? With $13 billion of taxpayer money spent and nothing to show for it, it’s certainly got to be high on the list, and the project’s new CEO just made things comically worse.
A public bond covering about one-third of the estimated cost was passed in 2008, while politicians promised the train service would open by 2020. It is now five years past that deadline, and not a single track has been laid. If that’s not a picture of inefficiency, I don’t know what is.
RELATED: California’s $113 billion Bullet Train to Nowhere
Given the abject failure of California’s government to deliver something tangible for all the money it has spent, a new CEO has been brought on board to manage the project. Ian Choudri was appointed in August and is taking an upbeat approach, claiming that he can turn the disaster around. So, what is he saying the new projected partial completion date is if the state can secure private funding? Are you sitting down, because you may want to sit down for this. I don’t want anyone getting hurt from falling over laughing. Alright, are you ready?
According to Choudri, they’ll still be working on the project in 2045. Yes, California now needs two more decades to finish its high-speed rail line.
Ian Choudri, who was appointed CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority in August, is tasked with reinvigorating the nation’s largest infrastructure project amid skyrocketing costs and new fears that the Trump administration could pull $4 billion in federal funding.
“We started this one, and we are not succeeding,” Choudri said, describing what drew him to the job after work on high-speed systems in Europe. “That was the main reason for me to say, let’s go in, completely turn it around, and put it back to where it should have been. Fix all the issues, get the funding stabilized, and demonstrate to the rest of the world that when we decide that we want to do it, we actually will do it.”
Voters first approved $10 billion in bond money in 2008 to cover about a third of the estimated cost with a promise the train would be up and running by 2020. Five years past that deadline, no tracks have been laid and Choudri acknowledges it may take nearly two more decades to complete most of the San Francisco-to-Los Angeles segment, even if funding is secured.
Keep in mind that the above timeline is based on somehow convincing private investors to set their money on fire. If California can’t get any wealthy benefactors to play along, then the cash flow is going to run out, and taxpayers will be left holding the bag. Right now, about $4 billion in federal funding also hangs in the balance, and President Donald Trump has plenty of incentive to pull it.
The project’s price tag now exceeds $100 billion, more than triple the initial estimate. It has mostly been funded by the state through the voter-approved bond and money from the state’s cap-and-trade program. A little less than a quarter of the money has come from the federal government.
The authority has already spent about $13 billion. The state is now out of bond money, and officials need to come up with a financing plan for the Central Valley segment by mid-2026, according to the inspector general’s office overseeing the project.
I’ve never seen anything like this. We’ve been talking about California’s high-speed rail project for 17 years, and California’s Democratic leadership is so terrible and corrupt that they spent $13 billion without laying the first track. Is it crazy to wonder whether this was a scheme to line the pockets of politicians? Because I’m at a loss for where all that cash went. Only so much can be legitimately spent on surveys and planning sessions.
And rest assured, this is a failure of California’s Democratic ruling class. In Florida, a similar high-speed rail project between Orlando and Miami was started in 2014 and completed in just four years. The total cost was only $6 billion. Meanwhile, California is projecting that over $100 billion will need to be spent to finish its high-speed rail line. Yeah, good luck with that.
Editor’s Note: Every single day, here at RedState, we will stand up and FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT against the radical left and deliver the conservative reporting our readers deserve.
Help us continue to tell the truth about the Trump administration and its major wins. Join RedState VIP and use promo code FIGHT to get 60% off your membership.
