![\"California](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/.webp\"\/ "\\"California")
<\/a>California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin in Long Beach in 2023.MediaNews Group via Getty Images <\/p>\n
In a 60 Minutes report<\/a>, officials now put the cost at $126 billion. That is more than Amtrak has received from the federal government since 1971. It also far exceeds the $33 billion figure given to voters in 2008.<\/p>\n California high-speed rail cost and timeline <\/p>\n Nearly two decades later, the promise of a ride in under three hours has faded. The project is now delayed, downsized and far more expensive. Still, the earliest projected opening is now 2033.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss\u2026FS Italiane 5G trials target rail connectivity<\/a><\/p>\n At the same time, there are still no tracks laid. In Fresno, the only place where the project is visible, locals mock it as \u201cStonehenge\u201d.<\/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 Central Valley segment and project criticism <\/p>\n California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin admitted \u201dmistakes have been made\u201d. He also said 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 By 2019, even Gov. Gavin Newsom had thrown cold water on the original vision. He said, \u201cRight now, there simply isn\u2019t a path\u2026 from San Francisco to LA.\u201d His administration then scaled the project back to the Central Valley. That is a stretch few demanded and fewer are expected to ride. That Central Valley focus includes the stretch between Bakersfield and Merced. Separately, the state\u2019s draft 2026 business plan<\/a> puts the full system at roughly $126 billion.<\/p>\n Funding gap and federal support <\/p>\n Meanwhile, the full system is now estimated at roughly $126 billion. It leaves a funding gap of about $90 billion. Officials insist they will 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 Also, federal funding has been yanked. As Railway Supply<\/a> reported, critics blasted the project. They said it has \u201cwasted billions in taxpayer dollars yet delivered nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, California\u2019s high-speed rail project remains stuck between ambition and reality.<\/p>\n News on railway transport<\/a>, industry, and railway technologies from Railway Supply that you might have missed:<\/p>\n Find the latest news of the railway industry in Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world on our page on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, LinkedIn<\/a>, read Railway Supply magazine online<\/a>.
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