The White House says there is no feasible way to move forward with the proposed 800-mile rail system intended to link San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Donald Trump announced that the Department of Transportation is withdrawing $4 billion in federal funding allocated to California’s high-speed rail project.
The department said that California’s high-speed rail project was no longer viable and indicated it may attempt to reclaim additional funds associated with the project.
The Federal Railroad Administration released a 315-page report last month citing missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and questionable ridership projections.
A central issue is that California had not identified $7bn in additional funding needed to build an initial 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield, California.
The report also located the rail project was unlikely to hit a 2033 completion target for its initial segment, a prerequisite for receiving the federal cash.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pointed to the project’s soaring costs—now estimated at $135 billion—as the reason for cutting federal grants in a post on X. Meanwhile, Federal Railroad Administration Acting Director Drew Feely stated in a letter to state officials that the project had not complied with the terms required to receive the grant funding.
The project is now estimated to cost up to $128 billion, nearly four times its original $33 billion price tag.
In short, California Gov. Gavin Newsom stated that he would fight back and billed the move as a “gift to China.”
“Trump is trying to give China the upper hand and leave the Central Valley behind — we won’t allow that,” Newsom said in a statement. “While efforts like Texas’s high-speed rail project have stalled, we’re far ahead of the pack. We have entered the track-laying phase and are building the nation’s only true high-speed rail. California is exploring every option to challenge this unlawful move.”
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