The Little Engine That Couldn’t: California’s High-Speed Rail Costs Rise To $200 Million Per Mile

California’s high-speed rail (HSR) pencils out to around $200 million per mile for the San Francisco–Los Angeles route. And this cost is almost certainly too low if the main attraction of the project is ever built. To give you an idea of just how much costs have increased, the LA–SF route cost estimate is nearly three times as high as the original total cost of the entire system. Welcome to the surreal world of how California’s state government spends with effectively no foresight, no hindsight, no accountability, no plan, and no regard for taxpayers in California or those in the other 49 states who are indirectly helping fund this albatross through federal transportation spending.Back in 2008, California voters approved about $10 billion in bond funds to partially finance a HSR system that would stretch across the state, from the south to north, and from the valleys to the coast, promising travel from San Francisco to Los Angeles in just two and one-half hours, with trains traveling a...