This African country already has high-speed rail before California

Gavin Newsom likes to boast that California has the world’s fourth-largest economy.So why can’t it build high-speed rail, while Morocco — which ranks 57th — has had it for years?“The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently awarded its first track and systems contract and will begin laying track later this year,” boasts a June 24 email from US High Speed Rail.

“Trains are planned to be operating between Merced and Bakersfield by 2032-2033.” This contract, to Momentum Alliance Partners, marks “a major turning point in California’s high speed rail project.” Californians are well aware of what the email does not explain. The total cost of California’s vaunted “bullet train” has surged from the original $33 billion in 2008, when voters approved Proposition 1A, to a staggering $231 billion, all before any track was laid.According to UCLA economist Lee Ohanian, the project was a fantasy from the start, but remained a favorite of recurring governor Jerry Brown. “We’ve got the money.

We’re a rich state,” Brown proclaimed in May 2025.“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.” As Californians should know, so does Morocco, a nation with a GDP of $194 billion. Launched in 2018, the Al Boraq Line, is the first high-speed rail system on the African continent.

At 200 mph, the trains cut travel time from Casablanca to Tangier from four hours and 45 minutes to just two hours and 10 minutes. “For a foreigner, fares are cheap,” notes travel writer Phillip Mallis.So Morocco should be “a place on the list to visit for rail fans.” The initial stretch cost approximately $2-4 billion, and a major expansion is in the works.  California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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