California High-Speed Rail Is a Failed Boondoggle With No Trains and No Real Progress
Source: Chris Bray. "Newsom's Bungled High-Speed Rail Project Includes Zero Trains." August 6, 2026. thefederalist.com
The Gist
The author argues that California's high-speed rail project is failing badly—after spending $16 billion and 17+ years, they still don't even have a contract to buy trains, which means no actual train service is coming anytime soon. He argues state officials have been dodging questions about missed deadlines and falsely claiming progress on tracks and yards while the project's own schedule shows key pieces are undefined and years from completion.
Conclusion
California's high-speed rail project is a politically symbolic boondoggle and union giveaway that will not produce an operational train system for the foreseeable future, and should likely be abandoned.
Premises
- The rail authority missed a federally mandated December 31, 2024 deadline to execute a contract for actual trainsets.
- Trains must be ordered years in advance to allow for manufacturing and testing before passenger service can begin, so the absence of a train contract implies many more years of delay.
- The rail authority has not disputed or explained the missed deadline, and public records do not even acknowledge it, suggesting a lack of accountability or transparency.
- The project's own procurement schedule lists critical components—tunnels, trains, and the maintenance facility/operations control center—as 'TBD' with no completion dates.
- Trade press (Railway Supply) had already warned months earlier that delays in train contracting would stall the entire project's engineering and prototype work.
- Despite $16 billion spent since approval in 2008 and construction beginning in 2015, the project has failed to deliver meaningful infrastructure or progress toward actual rail service.
- State officials, including Governor Newsom, have publicly characterized incomplete infrastructure (like a railhead near Wasco) as major progress, despite the project lacking trains.
Assumptions
- Missing a single procurement deadline for trains is indicative of broader systemic failure rather than an isolated administrative issue.
- The primary purpose of the project should be judged by proximity to actual passenger rail service rather than other possible benefits (e.g., construction jobs, regional economic activity, incremental infrastructure).
- Lack of public explanation for the delay implies incompetence or dishonesty rather than routine bureaucratic opacity.
- The project's original 2008 goals and timeline are the appropriate benchmark for evaluating current progress.
- Government officials touting construction milestones as 'progress' constitutes misleading spin rather than legitimate incremental achievement.