California’s High-Speed Rail—What’s Really Happening?

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California’s high-speed rail was supposed to revolutionize transportation, linking major cities at 220 mph. But decades of delays, political battles, and ballooning costs have turned it into one of the most controversial infrastructure projects in U.S. history. Originally approved by voters in 2008 with a $33 billion budget, the cost has since skyrocketed to over $100 billion, with only a 171-mile Central Valley segment under construction. While supporters argue it will cut emissions and reshape commuting, critics highlight mismanagement, funding shortfalls, and uncertain completion timelines. Despite federal grants and state cap-and-trade funding, a recent $6.5 billion shortfall has further delayed progress. Even so, polls show continued public support, and construction moves forward—at least for now. Will California’s bullet train ever reach Los Angeles and San Francisco, or is it destined to remain an unfinished dream? In this video, we break down where the project stands today.

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[manuelosorio]

One of the major factors not mentioned here has been the ridiculous amount of lawsuits. Every county in the initial portion of the project has sued California and the High Speed Rail Authority. Even the portions in the later phases have sued the project like the Burbank Airport authority. Any and every project in the U.S. especially in California has seen lawsuits. On average, it's not unusual that damn near 1/3 of any project budget is set aside for legal battles.

[Jebbis]

How come no one is talking about the fact that every interstate project that has happened in the past 40 years has always run behind and massively over budget?

[sparaz]

One thing I don't see mentioned here is how regulatory law and land rights in cities, counties, and building zones are the primary reason that this project is taking 35 years instead of 10. Every time they try to secure land path for building they run into law suits and delays. Some jurisdictions have caused the path of construction to be moved over 6 times. And it's over and over and over. Expensive problems

[sibrcode]

One big thing that was missed: the electrification and other improvements to the San Francisco to San Jose segment was recently completed, and is in use now by the Caltrain commuter service.

Also, my understanding is that one reason for the increased costs was the decision to go through the more populous areas of the central valley, instead of staying closer to I5.

[curtthomas]

I live in Merced and in November, I got the chance to speak with High Speed Rail Authority representatives at a presentation. I asked what they learned from their difficulties and what lesson they would offer for future HSR projects in the US. Their answer largely boiled down to how the project was funded. Funding the project with bonds and having all of their money up front was a huge mistake that ended up making them dependent on grants, and that grant dependency slowed them down by forcing them to try and make grant timing line up with construction progress.

[WaitNoIdidntMean]

If a highway project had the same issues as this, there would be almost no press coverage or scrunity. It is indeed without a doubt a pain train of a project, but it still deserves to happen. Adding more lanes to highways will not fix traffic and only worsen it.

[DavidMillsom]

As a tech worker who worked in San Jose, I knew of a number of people who commuted rediculous distances from as far away as Fresno and Merced.
I believe that the initial development should have been between San Jose/San Francisco and these regional cities. This would have provided an opportunity to develop a limited service from which we could learn before embarking on the more substantial routes.
It would also have enabled more regional urban development reducing housing pressure on the Bay Area. A similar approach could have been proposed which radiated from LA, both eastward and to San Diego.

[TheLiamster]

I hope this project gets completed. The state spends 30 billion dollars on highways every year. If a third of that was diverted to HSR then the project will hopefully go along a lot smoother

[tacticalcombatpeanut]

I personally support the project. We tolerate higher price tags when it comes to roads, but when it comes to trains, we suddenly balk.

[ElijahVanZee]

As a train lover from Portland [Oregon], I'd be more than glad if the project is finally completed.

[horatiohuskisson]

The first bullet train in Japan was late and overbudget, the first one is always the worst but once it’s built, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th HSR projects will be a lot more efficient

[bradbailey]

When pols emphasize the job benefits over use viability and how to overcome delays, it's a political boondoggle.

[skeletoncrew]

I voted against this boondoggle because it will never pay for itself. Why would anybody take the train from the Bay Area to LA? It only takes an hour to fly there and advance tickets cost about $65, the train will take twice as long and cost twice as much. What is the purpose of the IOS? Virtually nobody is going to pay for HSR between Madera and Shafter, the number of Californias that have heard of these two towns rounded to the nearest whole number is 0%. Some please stop this waste of money.

[yupyup]

This is a project that needed to be done 20 years ago. I wouldnt be surprised if this turned into the west coasts version of “the big dig”

[cmphighpower]

No one can waste money better than government

[chaytonfarlee]

I am a local Californian, and I love the idea, I just want to see them get it done. I think high speed rail is the future of transportation in America!

[kolideoskope]

5:00 CalTrain electrification isn't really an "other project", it IS California HSR. They share that corridor. So that's 51 miles of HSR already complete and ready to go (though it would really be good to add more passing tracks and grade separations), with another ~120 miles of brand new right of way nearing completion in the central valley.
There's definitely big problems with the project, but the focus should be on fixing those problems, not just canceling the whole thing. It's really frustrating that most of the loudest critics don't seem to know much about the project, they just parrot whatever cynical talking points they've heard.
One big problem is the lack of funding, both from the state and federal government. That drives up delays and expenses.
Once the IOS (and Brightline West) is running, a lot of people will come to ride it, even just as a tourist attraction, and think "I wish we had this in other places", which should really help public support.
The focus after IOS completion should be closing the Tehachapi gap from Bakersfield to Palmdale. If that happens, there will finally be continuous rail service throughout the state, and it will incentivize construction of the High Desert Corridor to have interstate high speed rail service from Vegas to most of California. After that, the tunnels under Pacheco pass will mean that HSR trains can go from San Francisco to Southern California in one go, and from there transfer to Metrolink regional network. The tricky bit through the San Gabriel mountains should probably be last of the three Phase 1 segments, at which point there would be the option of instead electrifying the existing Metrolink corridor to at least complete the LA-SF route with a few extra minutes of travel time.

[lalodaniels]

I am a Californian living in Visalia, and we want the train completed and connected to the high paying jobs int he Bay Area.

[DavidPalmer]

@BuildCore is one of the few YouTube channels to actually pronounce EACH California HSR city correctly—-and free of bias. Bravo!

[joshuasmith]

Crazy how China can build an entire hsr network across their entire nation in the span of a couple decades and we can’t even build a single line? We are still the richest nation on the planet and California is the richest state. This project should have taken 10 years max. There are numerous lines to model and learn from. We aren’t reinventing the wheel here