High-speed rail in California would have been nice. Sure, it’d be cool to zip along in under three hours from Los Angeles to San Francisco.
But don’t hold your breath—this is the formerly Golden State, and despite voters approving the rail line in a 2008 ballot initiative, billions upon billions of federal and state dollars have been thrown at the project and yet it’s barely a quarter complete. The first operational segment, a 171-mile segment stretch between Merced and Bakersfield (because somehow that’s an incredibly important commuter path?), is now expected to be operational between 2030 and 2033.
Sure, I believe you.
DOGE’s Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy have already put the project on their target list, and on Monday, CA GOP Rep. Kevin Kiley decided he’s seen enough too and filed the “No More Funds for California High Speed Rail Act”:
