California’s High-Speed Rail Fiasco Being Somehow Touted as Success By Delusional Newsom

Angela Rose took to the fields near Fresno recently, camera in hand, to expose what she sees as one of the biggest swindles in state history. Standing amid desolate overpasses and barren concrete pillars, she filmed a video that’s gone viral on X, showing the so-called progress on California’s high-speed rail project.

California was promised a High Speed Rail from San Francisco to LA in 3 hours at 220mph, but 17 years later all they got was a request for $100B more dollars.

6 years after the expected completion date Gavin proudly announces they are planning to begin laying down tracks. One… pic.twitter.com/vfRAA86oPE

— Angela Rose (@angelaroosee) January 12, 2026

“We are here in California to see what $15 billion looks like in Gavin Newsom’s California,” she says, panning across empty structures. “Not one train track!” Her on-site tour drives home the point: after years of hype, taxpayers have funded little more than “viaducts to nowhere.”

The project dates back to 2008, when voters approved Proposition 1A, authorizing $9.95 billion in bonds for a bullet train linking San Francisco and Los Angeles. The pitch was simple—trains zipping at 220 mph, cutting travel time to under three hours, with completion by 2020 and a total cost around $33 billion. Fast forward to 2026, and the reality couldn’t be starker.

Costs have exploded to an estimated $135 billion, according to Governor Newsom’s own State of the State address on January 8, where he boasted about finally “laying the tracks” for the nation’s first high-speed rail system. He painted the fiasco as a success, touting jobs created as his main “accomplishment.” Yet, as Rose points out in her video, “it’s 2026 and they’ve already spent 15 Billion Dollars and not ONE TRACK has been laid.”

Official updates from the California High-Speed Rail Authority paint a rosier picture, claiming 119 miles of active construction in the Central Valley and over 16,000 jobs created. They tout environmental clearances and bids for track installation, with plans to start laying rails this year and aim for operational service between Merced and Bakersfield by 2030-2033. But even these milestones come amid endless delays. The authority recently abandoned hopes for more federal funding, especially with President Trump in his second term pulling back support—he once called the project a “disaster” and clawed back $929 million in 2019, a move California initially sued over before dropping the case. Now, they’re courting private investors, hoping to secure partnerships by summer.

Rose doesn’t buy the excuses. Driving from Los Angeles through mountain passes, she notes the immense challenges ahead: “There’s so many mountains… they’re gonna have to build SO MANY tunnels.” She questions the logic of building in remote areas, joking about “transporting the cows,” and wonders if the fares will even compete with cheap flights. Her video shows isolated overpasses that abruptly end, with no connections in sight. “This thing looks even worse,” she exclaims at one site, highlighting how the structures sit idle, gathering dust.

Dig deeper, and the numbers raise serious red flags. Independent audits have long flagged mismanagement, with a 2023 state auditor report citing poor oversight and inflated contracts. Billions funneled through connected firms—some with ties to political heavyweights like the Pelosi and Newsom families—fuel suspicions of cronyism.

Remember, Newsom’s aunt was married to Ron Pelosi, brother-in-law to former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and family businesses have overlapped with state contracts in the past. It’s not hard to imagine funds siphoned off through “cost overruns” that line pockets rather than lay tracks. As one commenter on Rose’s post put it, “Now do a deep dive in the Pelosi and Newsom families and shady San Fran leasing agreements.”

This isn’t just incompetence; it borders on outright deception. Newsom, in his January 8 speech, framed the rail as a “spine of a 21st-century transit future,” promising faster commutes and cleaner air. But critics, including Republican lawmakers, call it a boondoggle that drains resources from real needs like fixing crumbling roads or addressing homelessness. With California’s budget deficits mounting—Newsom inherited a surplus but now faces shortfalls—the project’s endless appetite for cash feels like a betrayal of hardworking families.

Rose ends her video calling it a “perfect example of massive bureaucracy,” and she’s right. As the authority pushes for private money amid federal cuts under President Trump, the question lingers: will this ever connect cities, or remain a monument to failed government overreach? Taxpayers deserve answers—and accountability—before another dime disappears into the void.