$100 Billion High-Speed Rail Fiasco

Governor Kathy Hochul and MTA Chair & CEO Janno Lieber at a press conference in Penn Station. File Photo

Motorists driving on crummy roads and suffering lousy train service need only look to California to see where the nation’s transportation dollars are being spent. President Biden recently granted $3.1 billion for the “Bullet Train” that is supposed to link San Francisco and Los Angeles. State voters approved it back in 2008 when it was estimated to cost $33 billion. More than 15 years later, the rail line remains unfinished with $100 billion sunk into it so far.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that the high-speed line, which boasted of 220-mile-per-hour trains that could whisk passengers between the state’s two major cities in under three hours, had to be significantly scaled back due to construction complications and cost overruns. A clearer picture of the fiasco emerged from the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Committee, which said the rail would take another 15 to 20 years to build, would cost three times as much as projected, and would be unable to achieve its speedy trip times.

Outside of the $3.1 billion committed by Biden, the committee concluded that “there is no existing federal program anywhere near the scale or sustaining level needed.” The President does have the $1 trillion federal Infrastructure Bill to draw from, but competition for these dollars are intense, and the California project is not expected to receive the $100 billion it needs from Washington.

According to a recent review by Wendell Cox, a senior fellow with the Committee to Unleash Prosperity, even further cost escalations are likely considering massive tunneling that has yet to be done through the Tehachapi Mountains. Meanwhile, Cox noted, “Florida has a new rail system up and running between Orlando and Miami, with all private financing. Florida also has a state budget surplus.”

Biden is restoring funding for the California project after then-President Trump pulled the plug on it saying it was a "disaster." Budget hawks in Congress are looking to bar the White House from giving away any more tax dollars to the rail line. Last month, Biden doubled down on train transportation with the announcement of $8.2 billion for nine other passenger rail projects across the country, including $3 billion for Brightline West, a 218-mile high-speed line from Las Vegas to suburban Los Angeles, and monies for rail corridors in Virginia, North Carolina, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

In November, Gov. Kathy Hochul announced incoming federal funding of $6.76 billion for downstate passenger rail projects including:

Hudson Tunnel Project Systems and Fit Out ($3.80 billion)

Metro-North Railroad Penn Station Access with Four New Stations in the Bronx ($1.64 billion)

Rehabilitation of the East River Tunnels to Penn Station ($1.26 billion)

Pelham Bay Bridge Replacement ($58 million)

On Long Island, newly-elected Suffolk County Executive Edward Romaine outlined a compelling need for federal spending on local bridges, highways, and the electrification of the three rail lines that run through the county. “The fact that our railroad is still using outdated, highly polluting diesel locomotives is a disgrace,” Romaine said.