What’s gone wrong with California’s high-speed rail pipedream? On February 20, 2025, the Trump squad slammed the brakes—federal transportation chiefs launched a probe to yank $4 billion in funding from this runaway flop. Are you serious? Voters shelled out $10 billion in bonds back in 2008 for a slick San Francisco-to-L.A. ride in under three hours by 2020, tagged at just $33 billion. Now it’s a bloated wreck—state officials admit $106 billion to finish the full line, stuck on a measly 171-mile Bakersfield-to-Merced stretch, maybe by 2033. This isn’t a train; it’s a taxpayer mugging!
Protestors shouting at Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as he believes that CA has mismanaged the High Speed Rail project.
Me thinks shouting “build the rail” should be directed at the Governor but hey 🤷🏼♂️ pic.twitter.com/eZphsCRKpz— OC Scanner 🇺🇸 🇺🇸 (@OC_Scanner) February 20, 2025
Rip this mess open—it’s a cash hemorrhage gone wild. Some peg the total cost over $135 billion, with over $13 billion already torched—$13 billion!—and not one passenger hauled. Delays? Piling high. Overruns? Off the rails. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s swinging hard: “I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the (California High-Speed Rail Authority) has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States.” That’s a gut shot—Trump axed $1 billion in 2019, Biden dumped $3.3 billion back in 2023, and now that $4 billion’s on the block. Who’s minding the store?
Needless to say, Trump’s despised this clunker from the jump. California’s rail boss Ian Choudri’s keeping chill: “With multiple independent federal and state audits completed, every dollar is accounted for, and we stand by the progress and impact of this project.” Progress? They brag 15,000 jobs and 50 structures—big whoop—for over $13 billion spent. Florida’s Brightline zipped up 218 miles for $5.6 billion in three years—private cash, no handouts—while California’s begging for $8 billion more just to limp along. Layoffs are mounting, money’s tight—this rail’s a shredder sucking billions dry!
Check the tally—2008 pitched L.A. to San Fran by 2020 for $30 billion. Now it’s 2033 for a 171-mile stub, over $135 billion by some counts—$106 billion official—and they’re still whining for that $8 billion boost. Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley’s raging, calling it “the worst public infrastructure failure in U.S. history.” Spot on—over $13 billion down the drain, nothing rolling. X posts are buzzing—folks betting this probe could “claw back $4.3 billion” (vibe from there, not a quote). Are taxpayers just suckers? The economy’s stumbling, and this rail’s a fat hog ripe for slaughter.
Without a doubt, this stinks of collapse. Duffy’s crew might gut it—that $4 billion’s a lifeline they’re set to cut. Rail unions are crying, begging Trump to play “Builder-in-Chief,” but Brightline proves $5.6 billion gets it done without the begging. California’s big idea? A rotting husk—shove your bucks into gold or dirt before it flops. How much longer can they prop this $106 billion turkey up before it’s dead? The wise are jumping—the rest are about to bleed.
Sources:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trump-administration-takes-aim-4b-212421453.html