Former Gov. Jerry Brown Comes Out in Defense Of California High-Speed Rail

Former Governor Jerry Brown said in an interview this week that he is still all for California High-Speed Rail, despite a continuously increasing cost for the system and a growing number of lawmakers and Californians opposing the system.

High-Speed Rail was ushered in California with the passage of Proposition 1A in 2008. Then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger fought for funding of the project, but it wasn’t until Jerry Brown was elected again as Governor in November 2010 that High-Speed Rail solidified. A major supporter of rail for decades, Brown kept the first budget price tag of the project at $33 billion, with a San Francisco to Los Angeles line set to open by 2028. Brown also greatly expanded funding of the project, facilitating cap-and-trade funding going towards the project.

However, numerous delays and price increases compromised High-Speed Rail under Brown’s tenure. By 2012, the cost of the project ballooned to $53.4 billion. The lack of land purchases for the project only increased delays and costs of the project in the mid 2010’s. By the time Brown left office in January 2019, the cost escalated to nearly $100 billion. As of May 2025 the total cost of the project hovers between $128 billion to $135 billion, with another $10.2-$14.2 billion likely to be tacked on soon. An estimated partial completion is also currently set for sometime in the 2030’s.

Despite this, as well as both the public and lawmakers opposing CHSR more and more with each passing year, former Governor Brown has nonetheless remained a huge supporter of high-speed rail. His support for a high-speed rail network dates back to his first terms of Governor in the 1970s and 1980s, being a major supporter of the initial 1982 bullet train proposal between San Francisco and San Diego. And this week, in an interview with Inside California Politics, he maintained that support, saying that California has the money for CHSR despite the state currently being in a $12 billion deficit.

Brown defends CHSR

“We’ve got the money. We’re a rich state,” Jerry Brown said. “We got $4 trillion in gross domestic product. Spain has less domestic product. They got one. France has a lower domestic product. They’ve got one. So I think we have to rise to the occasion.

“Congress now is talking about a intercontinental ballistic missile system that is hugely over budget. But nobody says to stop it because they think it’s important. I think high-speed rail is important and the costs are what they are given our system of law and government and the ability of people to protest and throw roadblocks in the way. The investment is well worth it.”

Despite Brown defending CHSR, he didn’t address the collapse of federal support for the project, nor did he provide any figures, simply saying that the costs would be worth it. It should be noted that some estimates during his 2010’s Governorship put the true cost of the project at around $350 billion. He also didn’t go into how a growing number of Democratic Gubernatorial candidates, including former Congresswoman Katie Porter, are beginning to turn on the project, giving some indications that it may be killed or sold off to a private company after Newsom’s tenure.

The big takeaway is that Brown appears to be refusing to face the facts that High Speed Rail is not doing so great and that the pet project he has been supporting for half a century has become a boondoggle. But, considering that he knew the true costs of the project over a decade ago, it is likely more of a legacy issue for him, as high-speed rail has been his baby for so long that any failure would mark him as the man who helped cause the project to collapse in on itself.