Unlikely though it may seem, as the man’s been a daily news presence for reasons both political and personal since the Trump administration took office three months ago, there are aspects of Elon Musk’s dreams and aspiration that haven’t borne closer scrutiny.

One such example: the Tesla and SpaceX CEO’s desire to construct a 3,000-mile transatlantic underwater tunnel that could ferry travelers by vacuum tube between London and New York City in under an hour’s time. Musk recently went so far as to say he could deliver the project at a fraction of its previously estimated $20 trillion cost.

Before you laugh Musk out of the room (or better yet, take to the internet to check the status of his plans for Mars colonization), here’s a reminder that it is possible to complete imaginative underwater rail projects. Just look 70 miles to the southeast of London and the town of Folkestone, which is home to the UK terminal for the Channel Tunnel, aka the “Chunnel.” Not only was the 31.5-mile rail line completed three decades ago (though engineers had been toying with the idea since the days of Napoleon), it reported record profits in 2024.

If Musk is willing, there’s an ambitious rail project that could use his help. And it happens to be in the American state with which Musk has a complicated relationship. This would be California’s plan to build a high-speed rail system between Los Angeles and San Francisco, which qualifies as something of an endangered species given its construction delays, cost overruns, and uncertain funding stream moving forward.

California’s adventure in high-speed rail construction began innocently enough: In 2008 voters approved Proposition 1A, which authorized a $9 billion down payment on the design and construction of a rail system that could connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours. Supporters predicted the line would be completed by 2020 at total capital costs of $33 billion. According to the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s business plan at the time, the project would “be built with major capital contributions from multiple sources, including the State of California, the federal government,........

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