California’s High-Speed Rail Is Still Just a Dream, Not a Train
California’s ambitious plan to link San Francisco and L.A. with a high-speed rail system has become the gold standard for how dreams collide with reality. Originally imagined as a futuristic bullet train slicing through the Golden State, it's now best described as the world’s slowest infrastructure project. Key issues include the never quite arriving funding—yes, chasing dollars is still the state's favorite sport—plus planning hiccups and a federal support system that seems to be on permanent lunch break. If funding were a train, this one would never leave the station between optimistic speeches and empty tracks.
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California’s high-speed rail is the perfect metaphor for 21st-century promises: fast in words, slow as molasses in delivery, and still waiting for the cash and green lights to actually get rolling.
California’s high-speed rail should win an award for ‘Longest Project That’s Not Actually Moving’ because apparently building a train is harder than inventing time travel.
They say slow and steady wins the race, but California’s high-speed rail seems to be mastering slow and broke instead—ticket sales might come when pigs fly first class.
Source: Grist | Published: 9/8/2025 | Author: Benton Graham
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