Who Tore Up the Tracks? · Episode 14 of 24 · 24 min
Picking Up the Rails: America Tries Again
A century after the tracks came up, Americans are laying them again. The finale surveys Brightline's real-estate-and-rail model in Florida, the Interstate 15 line to Las Vegas, California's bruised high-speed project, new Hudson tunnels, and light rail toward the 2028 Olympics. The enemy now is American construction cost, and the question was always who pays for the tracks.
Who's who
- Wes EdensFortress co-founder and driving figure behind Brightline
- Ian ChoudriCEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority since 2024
- Gavin Newsom+11 more episodesCalifornia governor who sued over the rescinded rail grants
- Sean DuffyU.S. Transportation Secretary who announced the 2025 rescission
- Eric GoldwynResearcher documenting high U.S. transit construction costs
- Alon LevyResearcher documenting high U.S. transit construction costs
Where it happens
- Florida+3 more episodesBrightline runs Miami to Orlando
- Interstate 15, Nevada and CaliforniaMedian route of Brightline West, 218 miles
- Central Valley, CaliforniaFirst high-speed rail segment under construction
- Hudson River, New York and New JerseyGateway tunnels under construction
- Lake Washington, SeattleFirst light rail across a floating bridge, opened 2026
Timeline
- January 2018Brightline begins service, the first new private intercity railroad in about a century
- November 2021Infrastructure act puts $66 billion toward rail
- September 2023Brightline extends to Orlando
- April 2024Brightline West breaks ground in Las Vegas
- July 2025Federal government rescinds roughly $4 billion for California high-speed rail
- January 2026Brightline West completion target moves to late 2029
Still debated
Whether California high-speed rail is a boondoggle or a beachhead is argued, and litigation over the rescission was ongoing in mid-2026. Brightline's deaths are described as a killer train by critics and a community problem by the company, and its finances remain unsettled.
← PreviousThe Great Steel Web: China Builds in Thirty Years What America Tore Up in SixtyNext →The City the Streetcar Built: Sausalito, 1937–1941
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