In 2008, California voters took a leap of faith and approved the California High-Speed Rail (HSR) project, which promised to connect Los Angeles to San Francisco by 2020. 

The project was advertised as a way to reduce traffic, cut emissions and create jobs.

Nearly two decades later, tens of billions in taxpayer dollars have been spent to deliver next to nothing — except, perhaps, for largesse to consultants.

As of now, the project has only partially completed a section — without any track as of yet — between Bakersfield and Merced, with an estimated operational date of 2031. 

What began as an innovative vision for the future with an immense price tag of $33 billion has completely derailed, with current estimates putting the price between $126 billion and $231 billion. 

Despite billions of dollars in funding from both the state and federal governments, the California HSR has managed to lay exactly zero high-speed tracks. The massive increase in cost and lack of any meaningful progress has left taxpayers wondering: Where did the money go? 

As The California Post reported: According to a new report from the Office of Inspector General, High-Speed Rail (OIG), at least some of that money went to paying for project consultants’ lavish living. 

Meanwhile, the boondoggle’s running out of money, the scope of the project continues to shrink and planned changes to the route face fresh legal challenges. It’s a mess.

Against this backdrop, the OIG this month identified about $680,000 of reimbursements for dubious and/or “unallowable” travel for HSR consultants.

Even more disturbing, this sketchy travel included trips to cigar lounges, nightclubs, gyms, escape rooms and other “questionable” locations. According to the report, one consultant was even reimbursed without question for premium rideshare services to a nightclub between the hours of 9:40 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. 

This investigation proves that the California High-Speed Rail Authority does know how to operate efficiently in at least one area, often making these payments without additional review regarding the legitimacy, much less the necessity, of the expenses. 

Most disturbing of all, earlier this year, Sacramento politicians tried to prevent reports like this from being released to the public if those reports were deemed to pose an “articulable risk to the project.”

That’s simply galling.

AB 1608 would have made reports, such as this one from the OIG, confidential. I vehemently opposed this legislation, which was eventually amended to eliminate all references to confidentiality on reports from the OIG. 

The latest OIG report demonstrates what many have known for years: The California high-speed rail project is a mess of mismanagement, overspending and waste of public funds. 

While the governor and Sacramento’s Democratic supermajority funnel billions of dollars into this project, Californians continue to face challenges in their daily lives that demand immediate attention. 

Our state still faces one of the highest costs of living in the nation, with fuel costs hitting $1.65 more than the national average. And yet, Sacramento continues to spend on misguided policies rather than providing the tangible relief that Californians deserve. 

Rather than pouring billions more into this failed train to nowhere, the rail authority’s Board of Directors needs to step up on behalf of the people of California and halt current spending — at least until sufficient financial guardrails are established to rein in nonessential outlays. 

This high-speed-rail fail is barreling toward financial disaster. We must hit the brakes. 

I am calling on the governor to make the right decision and cancel all future funding for the high-speed rail. If he refuses to cancel this project, the boondoggle will almost certainly continue unchecked, to the delight of self-serving, fun-loving, highly compensated consultants.

Diane Dixon, a Republican, represents a portion of Orange County in the 72nd District of the California Assembly.

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