The following article, California High-Speed Rail Goes Under The Microscope, was first published on The Black Sphere.
Image: KTLA-TV
Hold My Sam Adams
Boston had the infamous Central Artery/Tunnel Project (aka “The Big Dig”), which construction work began 1991 and was finally completed in December 2007. The Big Dig, was at the time, the most expensive highway project in American history. Originally planned for a 1988 completion, the project was inundated with cost overruns, delays, leaks from nearby bay, design flaws, use of substandard materials, criminal charges, arrests of building contractors and politicians, and the death of one motorist. The final cost of the Big Dig was $8.08 billion in 1982 dollars, or $21.5 billion adjusted for inflation, a cost overrun of about 190% in 2007.
Now comes a project that dwarfs the Big Dig in sheer scope in audacity, as well as in graft and overruns: California High Speed Rail (HSR). This two-phase project began construction in 2015 on the “Central Valley Segment” of Phase 1, or a 171-mile-long portion that is a just little over one-third of the total distance between San Francisco and Los Angeles. The Central Valley Segment is currently costing $28-$35 billion, and may not be up to operating service until 2033.
However, there is little funding for Phase 1 beyond the initial $106.2 billion for the Central Valley Segment, going into building in the Bay Area and Los Angeles! Let alone any available funds for Phase 2 that will connect Sacramento and San Diego to the HSR project.
Los Angeles Daily News editorial explains the issue at hand:
The problem remains that the funding for the project is as unrealistic as when then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger talked voters into approving Proposition 1A in 2008.
Sixteen years ago voters were promised, as they read in the initiative’s fiscal impact statement, “State costs of about $19.4 billion, assuming 30 years to pay off both principal ($9.95 billion) and interest ($9.5 billion) costs of the bonds.” It was supposed to be completed by 2020.
However, on March 12 (2024) the Legislative Analyst’s Office analyzed the project’s 2024 Draft Business Plan and found the cost had ballooned to $107.6 billion. The plan included grabbing $3.3 billion in federal funds, and “identifies a target” of getting another $4.7 billion from federal taxpayers.
New problems arose after a new inspector general’s report came to light show that not only that HSR is billions of dollars overbudget, but is on track to miss several key project deadline goals.
Politico writes:
California’s multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project is behind schedule on obtaining the land it needs to complete its construction plans, according to a state inspector general report published Friday.
The new report highlights the continued hurdles the project, with an estimated price tag of $88 billion to $128 billion, faces as it attempts to begin passenger service between the central California cities of Bakersfield and Modesto between 2030 and 2033 — just as President Donald Trump casts it as a boondoggle.
The report found that progress on 52 miles of track not yet under construction is at risk of being delayed because of challenges state officials face in securing agreements to relocate utility facilities, like power lines and water supply.
Friday’s report comes on the heels of another one earlier this month that found construction on the initial 171-mile Central Valley line is unlikely to be completed by the High-Speed Rail Authority’s 2033 timeline.
State Republicans jumped on that report, encouraging Trump to follow through on his threat to investigate the decades-long project to connect Los Angeles to the Bay Area.
DOT Gets Ahead of DOGE
Image: X
At a press conference at Los Angeles’ Union Station, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy flanked by key California Republican leaders such as: Congressmembers Kevin Kiley, Doug LaMalfa, Vince Fong, State Senator Shannon Grove, State Assemblymembers David Tangipa, Alexandra Macedo, and others were onhand for the announcement of a full review of federal funding for HSR.
Supporters of HSR were more vocal. The media were more focused on the union laborers that were protesting the presser instead of working at their taxpayer-funded worksites. The head of HSR was more diplomatic.
Fresno Bee reports:
“We welcome this investigation and the opportunity to work with our federal partners,” Chief Executive Ian Choudri said in a statement. “With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project.”
The head of the HSR Commission also defended the project. KSEE-TV reports:
Henry Perea with the Board of Supervisors over the High Speed Rail Authority says audits like this contribute to those very delays.
He says they’ve had at least 200 audits in the 10 years since construction began.
“We certainly have the plan to spend that $4 billion as a part of completing this project. But if they turn around and say, ‘we’re not going to give you that money,’ then we have to pull back,” Perea said.
Even if they don’t get the money, he says work will continue temporarily.
“Right now, we have the money in the bank to keep working for the next two-and-a-half to three years. So we’re moving forward,” Perea said.
He says the High-Speed Rail project has created a lot of jobs in our community, and he wants to see it through to the end.
Congressman Fong disagrees. As he made his position clear during the Union Station press conference:
A Mindboggling Boondoggle
Before taking on his role with DOGE, Elon Musk was already zeroing in on HSR as the posterchild for excessive government wasteful spending. Ironically the $12 billion Brightline West high-speed rail project which will connect Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas currently under construction, and is projected to be completed by 2028. Musk’s hyperloop concept is still alive and well, with research and experiments still taking place.
KTLA-TV opines:
The Trump Administration is correct to point out that the money isn’t being spent very well—because it’s not, and we know it. We’ve known it for years.
The original idea of the high-speed rail line in California was to make a run from Los Angeles to San Francisco in less than three hours. That is a very attractive selling point. But two decades and roughly $15 billion of dollars later, we were in the middle of a boondoggle of bad decisions that is now light years from its original plan and seems to be getting worse.
In fact, that was part of the original pitch for this. We’re going to go from one city, L.A., to another, San Francisco, and these are both very popular places. That’s a good selling point. It hasn’t worked out that way.
Phase 1 was supposed to be finished by 2020. The entire HSR project was originally supposed to cost $33 billion, now the HSR Authority is asking for another $100 billion just to finish Phase 1. This was a liberal-friendly idea thought up by Jerry Brown back in the 1970s, and has been a major waste of money, time, and resources.
California has done the impossible: made the Big Dig look like a playday in the sandbox!
Image: RealClearPolitics
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