In the sprawling farmland of California’s Central Valley, far from the vibrant cities along the coast, lies a surprising sight. Along its straight highways, one would be greeted by America’s most ambitious infrastructure project in recent years: a bullet-train line planned to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco.
What makes this view even more astonishing is not just its unexpected location among almond and plum orchards, but also the noticeable progress in construction. The high-speed railway, known for its slow development pace, has been in planning stages for over three decades. In 2008, California voters approved nearly $10 billion in bonds for the project with an estimated total cost of $33 billion and a completion date of 2020.
However, the current outlook is vastly different. The project now anticipates spending up to $35 billion and an additional decade just to finish the middle section of the railway, which spans 171 miles from Bakersfield to Merced – the easiest terrain for construction. Despite these challenges and delays, construction of the bullet train line continues unabated in California’s agricultural heartland.