Investigation · California High-Speed Rail · Public Accountability
HIGH-SPEED FAIL
California promised a bullet train by 2028.
A decade later, not one passenger has ridden it.
$13.8 billion spent. 554+ change orders. $540M+ in flagged waste. Board members with industry conflicts. A full accountability investigation built from public records.
2039+
Earliest Completion
$0
Spent Since Page Loaded
at ~$4.65M/day ($53.8/sec)
Investigation Overview · Updated March 2026
In November 2008, 53% of California voters approved a bond to build a bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2020, for $33 billion, with no taxpayer subsidy required. That train does not exist. It has never carried a passenger. The cost estimate is now $128 billion. The deadline is 2039, at best. The FBI has been asked to investigate. And the week a $537 million payment was quietly approved in a closed session, the legislature passed a law restricting what the project's own Inspector General can tell the public.
$13.8B
Spent · Zero Passengers
On a train that has never carried a single paying passenger in 18 years of construction.
$250M
Per Mile of Track
17× more expensive than Japan's original Shinkansen. Among the most expensive rail projects in recorded history.
$0
Private Investment Raised
Prop 1A promised private capital would close funding gaps. Seventeen years later, not a dollar has materialized.
The Promise vs. The Reality
Prop 1A, November 2008 — five specific commitments, measured against 2026 facts
✓ 2008 — Promised
✗ 2026 — Reality
Total Cost
$128 billion+
+288% · rising every year
Trains Running
2039 at earliest
OIG calls it "increasingly unlikely" even then
Route
San Francisco → Los Angeles
Route
Central Valley only
Merced to Bakersfield · SF and LA not connected
Operating Subsidy
None required
Prop 1A, Section 2704.08 — explicit prohibition
Operating Subsidy
Cannot operate without one
FRA compliance review finding · 2025
Private Investment
Would close any gaps
Private Investment
$0 in 17 years
State now offering public guarantees to attract capital
The Investigation
Eleven chapters built from public records, federal filings, FEC data, and California Secretary of State disclosures. Follow any thread — every page goes deeper.
Key Findings
Nine findings from our public records investigation — each documented, sourced, and clickable for the full story.
Chapter 2 →
THE CONNECTIONS
A senator's husband held the winning contractor. A board member runs the industry lobby. The relationships were in place before the first contract was awarded.
Follow the relationships →