Elon Musk claims criminal motives fueled California’s $126B debacle

Elon Musk unloaded on California’s massive High-Speed Rail Authority, blasting it as a wasteful boondoggle while claiming criminal motives fueled the project.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss fired off a sharp response late Tuesday night to a post on X highlighting the project’s staggering $126 billion price tag.

“The real reason for the ‘high speed rail’ is money-laundering to bureaucrats, consultants & unions, not actually transport,” Musk wrote. “That is where the billions spent so far have gone. That is why they don’t want an actually cost-efficient high speed transport system.”

In a previous post on X, Musk insisted his own tunneling venture, The Boring Company, could deliver a better alternative at a fraction of the cost for the Long Angeles-to-San Francisco train.

The jabs were aimed at the long-delayed rail effort championed by California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

The pair have engaged in an increasingly nasty war of the words, as Newsom recently called Musk “one of the great disappointments.”

Musk has long criticized traditional rail initiatives while promoting futuristic transport concepts like underground tunnels and high-speed systems, positioning his approach as faster, cheaper and more efficient than existing government-backed infrastructure plans.

Originally pitched in 2008 as a $33 billion project, California’s high-speed rail has seen estimated costs balloon to $126 billion amid constant litigation and land-acquisition delays.

Current projections suggest passengers won’t be able to board the train until at least 2030–2033, with no clear funding yet for the tracks to reach San Francisco or LA.

The project’s future grew more uncertain in early 2026 when the federal government terminated $4 billion in grants, though Newsom countered by securing $1 billion in annual state funding through 2045 to keep construction moving.

Despite the political friction, over 80 miles of guideway are now complete, shifting the focus from dirt-moving to the critical task of installing actual tracks and electrification systems.

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