Trump Administration to Pull $4 Billion in Funding for California High-Speed Rail

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: New York Times

June 4, 2025, 5:40 p.m. ET


The Trump administration said it would pull roughly $4 billion in federal funding for California’s long-planned high-speed train, a project that has, over decades, become an avatar for the country’s declining ability to complete transformative new infrastructure.

In a report sent to the state’s high-speed rail authority on Wednesday, Drew Feeley, the acting head of the Federal Railroad Administration, wrote that the project has repeatedly blown past projected deadlines by years, and cost estimates by billions of dollars.

It gave California 30 days to respond to the findings of the review before what it said was a likely decision to revoke the funding. “We don’t want to invest in boondoggles,” Sean Duffy, the transportation secretary, told Fox News. “I want to see high-speed rail in America and why it can’t be built within, you know, time frames that work for the people that invest in these projects makes no sense to me.”

The scale of the high-speed train route has been chipped away since the federal government first gave its support to the idea in 2009, the report noted: Initially, the vision for the project was a rail line that would whisk riders from the Bay Area to Los Angeles in less than three hours on some of the fastest trains in the world.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/us/politics/california-high-speed-rail-funding.html

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No paywall (gift)

[no_hypocrisy]

1. No sense to me.

More money for high-speed rail service means less use of highways.

Less use of highways = Less air pollution, less need for gasoline consumption, less need for federal funding of highways.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. One of the problems with projects like this

is the actual Project Manager (or Managers) and oversight of the various phases of the project. When that is out of kilter, the project gets delayed and delayed as some parts require others to be in place before they can move forward.

And now, with the tariffs... good luck with that! Almost all of the construction materials are going to be impacted, sending the cost sky high.

[k_buddy762]

3. Too much money

has already been spent and not enough rail has been laid.

[uncle ray]

4. just like every single project, ever.

so what else is new? building the thing is expensive, not having the thing is more costly. if the plug is pulled now there is no return on the investment already made, the need doesn't go away, and it won't be any cheaper in the future.

[k_buddy762]

6. See Post #5

[republianmushroom]

5. California's high-speed rail project

California’s high-speed rail project is infamous for delays and cost overruns since it was first pitched to California voters in 2008 as a $30 billion project that would be complete by 2020. Officials have since updated its price tag to $100 billion and estimate its first leg will be open to the public in 2033, the Associated Press says.

California has spent $11 billion on 57 miles of completed guideway, 45 structures and investments in the state’s infrastructure, not just 1,600 feet of rail.
Author: Emery Winter
Published: 5:48 PM EDT May 14, 2024
https://www.verifythis.com/article/news/verify/travel-verify/california-high-speed-rail-completed-miles-billion-dollars-fact-check/536-fe87c5c9-20d4-4bf9-9855-786a5525f454

Due to limited funding, only the Initial Operating Segment (IOS) has advanced to construction. It is the middle section of the San Francisco–Los Angeles route and spans 35% of its total length. These 171 miles (275 km) in the Central Valley will connect Merced and Bakersfield.
Phase 1
Phase 1, about 494 miles (795 km) long, is planned to run from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley. Due to limited funding, only the Initial Operating Segment (IOS) has advanced to construction. It is the middle section of the San Francisco–Los Angeles route and spans 35% of its total length. These 171 miles (275 km) in the Central Valley will connect Merced and Bakersfield. Revenue service on the IOS is projected to commence between 2031 and 2033 as a self-contained high-speed rail system, at a cost of $28–38.5 billion.[6][7][8] With a top speed of 220 mph (350 km/h), CAHSR trains running along this section would be the fastest in the Americas.
A proposed Phase 2 would extend the system north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, for a total of 776 miles (1,249 km).
Phase 2
Phase 2 would construct two major extensions to the system. The northern extension would stretch 115 miles (185 km) from Merced to Sacramento, with intermediate stops at Modesto and Stockton. It would largely parallel the existing San Joaquins route through the Central Valley.[76] In the south, the system would be extended 167 miles (269 km) from Los Angeles to San Diego.[77] Instead of continuing south from Anaheim, it would split off from the Phase 1 route at Los Angeles Union Station and travel east along I-10 before turning south, following an inland route along I-15 or I-215. This would enable high-speed trains to serve the Inland Empire and inland parts of San Diego County, with stops at Ontario International Airport and Escondido. One or more additional stations may be built, in either El Monte, West Covina, Pomona, San Bernardino, Corona, March ARB, or Murrieta.[78]

If the entire Phase 2 is completed, it would bring the total length of the high-speed rail system to 776 miles (1,249 km).[18][76][77] Phase 2 is still early in the planning stages, and would not be constructed until after the completion of Phase 1.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_High-Speed_Rail

Officials estimate it could cost about $35 billion to finish the first line from Bakersfield to Merced and roughly $100 billion more to complete the route from Los Angeles to San Francisco — about $100 billion more than what was originally proposed years ago. And the source of most funds is unclear.
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-03-21/high-speed-rail
Despite some progress, state’s high-speed rail is $100 billion short and many years from reality
By Colleen Shalby
Staff Writer
March 21, 2024 3 AM PT