California’s high-speed rail plan is running on fumes. Whether the actual train ever runs is anyone’s guess.
The project is seeking to withdraw an additional $4.1 billion in funding, the last of a $10 billion bond approved by voters in 2008. Voters approved that measure, thinking it would be used to connect the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco. Instead, it’s being requested in order to connect Merced to Bakersfield — the still-incomplete first stage of the project, which covers less than half of the hoped-for distance.
The project has been (forgive me) a train wreck from the beginning. Its plan to start by carving through the rural farmland of the Central Valley incensed the more conservative region, giving rise to accusations that the state wouldn’t follow through on the project. Construction finally began in 2015, three years behind schedule. Now, from the air, you can see where the path carves through fields, with partially built structures peppering the way.
The plan started with a price tag of $33 billion and a funding gap that officials hoped to fill with government money. Now, it’s inflated to $77 billion, and it could still jump up to over $98 billion.
The completion date has been pushed back repeatedly. In June 2018, it was set for completion in 2033, 13 years behind schedule. Even that seems optimistic, as the Central Valley track has already been pushed back to 2030.
The project was always a massive boondoggle, pushed by labor unions by labor unions and developers seeking to cash in on lucrative contracts. This was clear to anyone who was paying attention. The constant delays and cost increases were as predictable as the sunrise.
All this money for a project whose completion never gets any closer on the horizon. And the money could have been put to plenty of other uses. It could have gone toward addressing California’s worst-in-the-nation poverty or the fact that the Golden State is now home to more than 25% of the nation’s homeless.
The grand, shining train that former Gov. Jerry Brown envisioned in 2012 will never be. At best, a mere shadow of the planned rail line may become operational when he’s in his 90s and for double (or even triple) the anticipated price.
And, of course, most Californians have no reason to ride a train between Merced and Bakersfield, even if it becomes reality. But the money incinerator will continue to burn their tax dollars, and no one knows when it will stop.
