California High-Speed Rail’s Early Segment Scales Down as Local Officials Reluctant to Pay

The cost of the whole high-speed rail project was estimated at $126.08 billion, compared with the $33 billion price tag when the project was approved in 2008.

An aerial image shows construction workers building the Hanford Viaduct over state Route 198 and past agricultural fields as part of California's high-speed rail transit project, in Hanford, Calif., on Feb. 12, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

California is scheduled to serve its high-speed rail early segment—a 171-mile line between Bakersfield and Merced—as soon as 2032–2033, with stations not fully functional to their capacity as expected, according to the 2026 Business Plan released on June 1.

“As part of the Authority’s cost-saving strategy, early operating segment prioritizes lower capital costs through streamlined station designs, infrastructure choices, and service levels,” the plan reads.