Eighteen years after Prop 1A approval, no track is finished
The Wall Street Journal on October 22 published a video documentary chronicling the 18-year effort to build California’s high-speed rail system, with costs now projected to reach $126 billion and no finished track to show for the work.
WSJ video journalist Todd Johnson produced the documentary, “Inside the $126 Billion Debacle to Build California’s Bullet Train.” It draws on visits to construction sites, analysis of satellite imagery, and reviews of legal filings to explain what comes next for what WSJ describes as America’s largest active infrastructure endeavor.
California’s voters approved Proposition 1A eighteen years ago, authorizing a system intended to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco with trains traveling up to 220 miles per hour. Eighteen years later, the project lacks any finished track and faces an uncertain future, the documentary reports.
Costs are now projected to reach $126 billion, with land acquisition and regulatory hurdles continuing to put the project in jeopardy.
Johnson is based in London after two years in the Journal’s New York office. Before joining the Journal, he spent six years as lead photographer and videographer at the San Francisco Business Times. His work has received first-place awards from the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing, the California News Publishers Association, and the San Francisco Press Club.