Total Cost of California High-Speed Rail Line Rises to $126 Billion, With a Big Funding Shortfall

Back in 2008, voters were told the Los Angeles-to-San Francisco project would cost $33 billion.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a construction site to mark completion of the High-Speed Rail Authority’s Southern Railhead Facility, a logistics hub for upcoming track installation, in Kern County on Feb. 3, 2026. Gov. Newsom’s Office

California’s high-speed rail project connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco is now estimated to cost $126 billion, a rail authority board member said in an interview released by CBS’s “60 Minutes” on April 5.

But the High-Speed Rail Authority, according to its 2026 Business Plan issued in February, forecasts $39.3 billion in capital funding through 2045, a shortfall of about $87 billion.