Trump rescinds $4 billion in US funding for California High-Speed Rail project

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the Transportation Department is rescinding $4 billion in U.S. government funding for California's High-Speed Rail project.

Advertisement

The department said there was no viable path forward for California's High-Speed Rail project and it was considering potentially clawing back additional funding related to the project.

The Federal Railroad Administration issued a 315-page report last month citing missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and questionable ridership projections.

One key issue cited is that California had not identified $7 billion in additional funding needed to build an initial 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield, California.

The California High-Speed Rail System is a planned two-phase 800-mile (1,287 km) system with speeds of up to 220 miles per hour that aims to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles/Anaheim, and in the second phase, extend north to Sacramento and south to San Diego.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority said previously it strongly disagrees with the administration's conclusions "which are misguided and do not reflect the substantial progress made to deliver high-speed rail in California." It noted California Governor Gavin Newsom's budget proposal before the legislature extends at least $1 billion per year in funding for the next 20 years "providing the necessary resources to complete the project’s initial operating segment." The authority noted in May there is active civil construction along 119 miles in the state's Central Valley.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said "Newsom and California's high-speed rail boondoggle are the definition of government incompetence and possibly corruption." Newsom responded on social media: "Won't be taking advice from the guy who can't keep planes in the sky." Voters approved $10 billion for the project in 2008, but the costs have risen sharply. The Transportation Department under former President Joe Biden awarded the project about $4 billion.

The entire San Francisco-to-Los Angeles project was initially supposed to be completed by 2020 for $33 billion, but has now jumped from $89 billion to $128 billion.

In 2021, Biden restored a $929 million grant for California's high-speed rail that Trump had revoked in 2019 after the Republican president called the project a "disaster."