The US desperately needs to figure out how to do big infrastructure projects like this. High-speed rail is a critical piece of a greener economy, because it can truly compete with air travel at medium distances, and blows car travel out of the water. It's really unfortunate that the political incentives seem to be that Republicans are just outright opposed to any kind of government infrastructure spending unless it's a money-making scheme for their donors, and Democrats want to defend any project that sounds good, and damn the costs or whether it's actually successful.

What we need is a willingness to do major, expensive projects (high-speed rail is just not going to cheap in California, or anywhere), and ruthless commitment to making them happen efficiently. When a project like this fails in this way, all it does it play into the hands bad-faith actors who will never support major infrastructure projects. Then, people who are acting in good faith oppose them too, because there aren't enough counter-examples of successful projects.