California’s ‘Futureland’ High-Speed Rail Is Still Stuck at the Station | Lee Ohanian

Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words

Jennifer Hayne

News Commentary, News

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 24 January 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2008, California voters approved Proposition 1A, giving the green light to start planning a high-speed railway connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles, which would be built by 2020 and cost around $35 billion. Well, it’s 2026 and the Golden State’s “Futureland-esque” project is woefully over schedule and budget, now projected to cost around $135 billion. Lee Ohanian, a Hoover Institution senior fellow, joins Jack Fowler on today’s edition of “Victor Davis Hanson: In His Own Words” to discuss California’s Tomorrowland disaster and more: “It was Disney’s Futureland. It was trains that would travel as fast as 220 mph. They would move people from L.A. to San Francisco in two hours, 40 minutes. L.A. to San Francisco was supposed to have been finished about five years ago, and as you noted, cost $35 billion. The price tag could be as high as $135 billion today. “Now the project is woefully over budget—woefully behind schedule. And you know, Jack, in 2019, when Gov. Gavin Newsom gave his inaugural speech right after he was elected, he noted the problems that were happening with high-speed rail at that time. And he said in a very interesting way, ‘We don't have the money to go from San Francisco to Los Angeles.’ “And the project has been subject to not enough oversight and not enough accountability, and he was absolutely correct about that.” 👉America is worth preserving. Do your part and act now by going to https://www.heritage.org/beautiful 👉Go to My Patriot Supply to see exclusive winter time deals before offers end! https://www.mypatriotsupply.com/ 👉Don’t miss out on Victor’s latest editions of “Victor Davis Hanson: In a Few Words” by subscribing to The Daily Signal today. You’ll be notified every time a new piece of content drops: https://www.youtube.com/dailysignal?sub_confirmation=1 👉 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2iOoN0xoOoSNvDFlpLLYGY?si=5a9f369acc874c6e 👉 Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/victor-davis-hanson-in-his-own-words/id1566731706 👉 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@victordavishanson7273?sub_confirmation=1 👉 Rumble: https://rumble.com/c/VictorDavisHansonInHisOwnWords?e9s=src_v1_sa%2Csrc_v1_sa_o 👉 Victor’s website: https://victorhanson.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:59.0	Oftentimes in the past, when California has implemented a policy or has advanced some type of technology,
1:08.0	it is started in California and it is spread to other parts of the country.
1:12.6	Pay attention to what happens in California, particularly as politics and its governance and its regulatory affairs.
1:18.6	California was sold a dream in 2008. It was Disney's Future, Future Land. It was trains that would travel as fast as 220 miles an hour. They would move people from L.A. to San Francisco in two hours and 40 minutes.
1:33.3	L.A. to San Francisco was supposed to have been finished about five years ago. $35 billion. The price take could be as high as $135 billion now.
1:42.3	This is the bad infrastructure project that's California's bad penny.
	...

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