{"id":253726,"date":"2026-04-06T05:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T05:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253726\/"},"modified":"2026-04-06T05:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T05:48:08","slug":"californias-125-billion-high-speed-train-to-nowhere-laid-bare-in-60-minutes-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/253726\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s $125 billion high-speed train to nowhere laid bare in 60 Minutes report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gavin Newsom\u2019s transport secretary has admitted criticism of California\u2019s high-speed rail is justified \u2014 as estimates of the project show it will be a struggle to be completed<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Officials now say it will cost an eye-watering $126 billion to finish the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco <\/a>\u2014 which is more money than Amtrak has ever received from the federal government since it was established in 1971, a damning 60 Minutes report revealed.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s and a huge uptick when compared to the $33 billion voters were told the rail would cost when it was announced way back in 2008.<\/p>\n

Nearly two decades later, the idea of a sleek, sub-three-hour ride has instead morphed into a delayed, downsized, and wildly expensive project that\u2019s earliest projected opening is 2033. <\/p>\n

There are still no tracks laid, and the only segment that\u2019s seen much progress runs between Bakersfield and Merced.<\/p>\n

In nearby Fresno, the only place where the project is visible, locals mock the project as \u201cStonehenge\u201d.<\/p>\n

California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin in Long Beach in 2023. MediaNews Group via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom\u2019s administration scaled the project back to the Central Valley \u2014 a stretch few demanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now in 2026. There are no trains. There\u2019s no track laid. It was a complete bait and switch,\u201d Rep. Vince Fong told 60 Minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe California High-Speed Rail nightmare is the probably quintessential example of government waste and mismanagement.\u201d<\/p>\n

California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin admitted \u201dmistakes have been made\u201d and some of the criticism was \u201dvery fair.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think the voters fully understood and neither did we\u2026 what it was gonna take to actually get this project delivered,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re now in 2026. There are no trains. It was a complete bait and switch,\u201d Rep. Vince Fong told 60 Minutes. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Officials now say it will cost an eye-watering $126 billion to finish the line from Los Angeles to San Francisco CBS<\/p>\n

By 2019, even Gov. Gavin Newsom threw cold water on the original vision, saying, \u201cRight now, there simply isn\u2019t a path\u2026 from San Francisco to LA.\u201d <\/p>\n

His administration scaled the project back to the Central Valley \u2014 a stretch few demanded and fewer are expected to ride.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the price tag for the full system has exploded to roughly $126 billion, leaving a staggering funding gap of about $90 billion. Officials insist they\u2019ll find the money. \u201cThe entire amount\u2026 not there today. But do we believe we can get those funds to get the\u2013 the project done?? Absolutely,\u201d Omishakin said.<\/p>\n

Federal funding has also been yanked, with critics blasting the project as one that has \u201cwasted billions in taxpayer dollars yet delivered nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n

For now, California\u2019s high-speed rail remains stuck between ambition and reality \u2014 a half-built symbol of big dreams and the nagging question: can the state actually pull it off?<\/p>\n

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