If there’s a symbol for blue-state failure, the California High-Speed Rail project is it.
Despite Gov. Gavin Newsom and Co. throwing over $15 billion at the boondoggle so far, not a single foot of track has been laid. When Newsom did a press conference in February touting the operation, he had to use a freight train as the prop because there is no bullet train for photo ops. Seriously.
What there is after 10 years of construction is 80 miles of “guideway” — the path where the track will someday be laid — which is part of the Central Valley segment connecting Madera to Bakersfield. Just what everyone was clamoring for.
Now they’re running out of money.
KCRA’s Ashley Zavala, one of the few Sacramento reporters willing to hold Newsom to account, reports that the project could be broke as soon as December 2027.
NEW: California’s High-Speed Rail Project could run out of cash as soon as next year and project leaders aren’t being upfront about it.
— Ashley Zavala (@ZavalaA) August 11, 2026
The project’s Inspector General sent a warning to lawmakers and Gov. Newsom today:https://t.co/KMkopYBSY8
On Tuesday, the Inspector General for the High-Speed Rail, Benjamin Belnap, dropped a report on the progress achieved, and it isn't good.
In a letter to lawmakers and the governor, in an introduction to the report, the Inspector General included a set of bullet points, including one that stated: "the business plan does not sufficiently emphasize that the Authority will exhaust its current funding resources as soon as December 2027 if it does not secure financing."
The lack of cash could mean the project could be on the brink of a financial crisis at the start of 2027 if lawmakers and the governor don't address it by the end of this legislative session, which ends Aug. 31.
Oops.
MORE: Gavin Newsom Mocked Into Next Week As He Holds Ceremony Honoring Invisible High-Speed Train
CBS Exposes Newsom's $135 Billion Train Debacle: No Tracks Laid, Billions Wasted, and Going Nowhere
Trump yanked $4 billion in federal funding from the project in 2025 because he recognizes a loser when he sees one.
The state has so far spent $18 billion on the project. Its first planned segment, Merced to Bakersfield, is expected to cost at least $36 billion. The original vision, Los Angeles to San Francisco, is expected to cost between $126 billion and $231 billion.
The High-Speed Rail project has lost $4 billion in funds from the federal government, and it has yet to secure the private investment project leaders have been seeking.
I have a solution for the Newsom gang: let it run out of money. We’re looking at another decade at least of construction and tens of billions of dollars more taxpayer dollars, and for what? A project that nobody needs? As Trump has pointed out, there are frequent low-cost flights between San Francisco and LA that get you back and forth within a few hours.
“It’s the worst managed project that I think I've ever seen,” he said in February 2025.
💯🇺🇲💪PRESIDENT TRUMP🇺🇲🙌: One of the things I want to investigate rapidly because I've never seen anything to this extent. The train that's being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst managed project that I think I've ever seen some of the worst. BILLIONS.… pic.twitter.com/40sBDfL43D
— 5DME81 (@5dme81) February 10, 2025
PRESIDENT TRUMP🇺🇲🙌: One of the things I want to investigate rapidly because I've never seen anything to this extent. The train that's being built between Los Angeles and San Francisco is the worst managed project that I think I've ever seen some of the worst. BILLIONS. Hundreds of billions of dollars over budget. We're going to start an investigation of that.
Be merciful, Gavin. Let. It. Die.
Editor’s Note: Gavin Newsom wants to turn America into one big version of California - a failed, overtaxed, dystopian nightmare.
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