The project, first approved by California voters in 2008, continues to face scrutiny over delays, timeline changes and cost overruns
NEED TO KNOW
- California’s high-speed rail project aims to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles in under three hours
- The project faces funding challenges, with a report doubting completion of the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment
- Critics question the feasibility of the timeline and budget, citing delays, cost overruns, and insufficient funding
California is getting one step closer to completing a high-speed rail project that promises to transport passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours.
On Saturday, Feb. 28, the California High-Speed Rail Authority issued its Draft 2026 Business Plan that outlines how the endeavor will move forward through the rest of the year. The plan, now in a 60-day public review, projects the overall cost for Phase 1 (connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles, with stops along the way) to drop by $1.7 billion.
“The promise of high-speed rail is larger than fast trips between two endpoints. It is the opportunity to connect all the corridor’s communities — Gilroy, Merced, Fresno, Bakersfield, Palmdale and others — to the state’s largest job centers and innovation hubs in ways that create new opportunities for millions of Californians,” authority CEO Ian Choudri writes in the plan.
The plan comes as the project faces scrutiny from lawmakers and the public after years of delays, cost overruns and changing timelines…