内容摘要：“Ultimately, it boils down to safeguarding your family,” he said as he took a deep breath.

“Ultimately, it boils down to safeguarding your family,” he said as he took a deep breath.

California’s construction is far from completion. Of the 119 miles (192 kilometers) of construction underway in the Central Valley, only a 22-mile (35-kilometer) stretch is ready for the track-laying phase, which isn’t set to start until next year.Finishing the line in the Valley is just the first step. Next, the train has to extend north toward the San Francisco Bay Area and south toward Los Angeles. Choudri’s goal within the next 20 years is to build to Gilroy, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco. Under current public transit, it would then take at least one more train transfer to get into the city.

Southward, he envisions building to Palmdale, 37 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles. From there, it takes more than one hour to drive or two hours on an existing train line to reach Los Angeles.“In the ideal world, you can take the 500 miles, build it in your warehouse and then just drop it and everybody’s happy,” Choudri said. “But the programs are never built like that. You build incrementally and that’s what we’re doing right now.”Critics say the project will never be completed and may leave towering and unusable infrastructure stretching through the state’s agricultural heartland. More than 50 structures have already been built, including underpasses, viaducts and bridges to separate the rail line from existing roadways for safety.

The Cedar Viaduct, designed to take high-speed trains over Cedar and North avenues and State Route 99, is shown in an aerial view, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)The Cedar Viaduct, designed to take high-speed trains over Cedar and North avenues and State Route 99, is shown in an aerial view, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

“We’ve now spent billions of dollars and really no tracks have been laid,” said Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland, who is vice chair of the Senate Transportation Committee.

Doug Verboon, chair of the Kings County Board of Supervisors, who has fought the High-Speed Rail Authority in court over farmers’ loss of land due to the project, said the people who should be most upset by delays are its longtime supporters.The project’s price tag now exceeds $100 billion, more than triple the initial estimate. It has mostly been funded by the state through the voter-approved bond and money from the state’s cap-and-trade program. A little less than a quarter of the money has come from the federal government.

The authority has already spent about $13 billion. The state is now, and officials need to come up with a financing plan for the Central Valley segment by mid-2026, according to the inspector general’s office overseeing the project.

Garth Fernandez, Central Valley regional director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, talks about the Cedar Viaduct, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)Garth Fernandez, Central Valley regional director for the California High-Speed Rail Authority, talks about the Cedar Viaduct, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Fresno, Calif. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)