When California voters were first sold on the vision for a high-speed train connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles back in 2008, they were told the 500-mile system would cost $33 billion and would be completed by 2020.

Last week, the CEO of California’s High-Speed Rail Authority testified in Sacramento that a much smaller 170-mile track connecting Merced to Bakersfield would cost $35 billion and wouldn’t be completed till 2033.