Feds threaten to cancel CA HSR
California High-Speed Rail Authority, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
The State has been given 37 days to respond or risk losing the remaining billions in federal funding. Jon Fleischman of FlashReport analyzes, on Substack.
The United States Department of Transportation has delivered California's high-speed rail project a devastating blow. On Tuesday, the Federal Railroad Administration released a scathing 310-page compliance review, exposing the California High-Speed Rail Authority's (CHSRA) chronic mismanagement and failure to meet performance standards. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy did not mince words: "This report shows a cold, hard fact: CHSRA does not have an achievable way to complete this project on time or budget." He warned that if CHSRA cannot get the job done, $4 billion in federal funding might be reallocated to projects better reflecting President Trump's vision of "building great, big, beautiful things again."
The federal report details appalling deficits, including a $7 billion funding gap, missed deadlines for critical procurements, and inadequate budgetary provisions for contractor delays. Following $6.9 billion of federal investment over 15 years, not a single mile of high-speed track has been built. The CHSRA's promise of an Early Operating Segment by 2033 is now a pipe dream, with the DOT citing ambiguous non-federal funding and overstated ridership projections. What has long been touted as progress is now exposed as a taxpayer-backed illusion.
Expenses have ballooned to $106 billion since its inception, with estimates now at $128 billion, as the project has been scaled back to a meager Merced-to-Bakersfield segment. After $15.7 billion was spent, there is little to show for it besides 171 miles of construction and some structures in the Central Valley. Governor Gavin Newsom inherited the project and forged ahead despite runaway costs and delays, touting job creation and economic gain, while the rail itself remains a non-starter.
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