The Trump administration has launched a review of California’s high-speed rail project, adding to long-standing doubts about whether the venture, plagued by cost overruns and delays, will ever be completed.
The Federal Railroad Administration will investigate the project through a compliance and performance review, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy announced on Thursday. In 2008, the California High-Speed Rail Authority estimated the initiative would cost $33 billion and begin service by 2020, and voters approved $9 billion of bonds for the project. However, only 119 miles of the planned 776-mile railroad has commenced construction so far. Meanwhile, the current cost estimate ranges from $89 billion to $128 billion, according to the authority.
“For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project,” Duffy said in a press release. The investigation will determine whether taxpayer money should remain committed to the program, the release said.
The project has long been treated as a political football, with it fate contingent on which administration is occupying the White House. During his first term, President Donald Trump terminated a federal agreement with the state, canceling nearly $1 billion in funding for the project. Then, the Biden administration awarded $3 billion for the rail line in 2023.
“It is the worst-managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” Trump said at a news conference earlier this month referencing the rail.
Earlier this month, an inspector general report found the project is unlikely to reach its target of shuttling the first phase passengers by 2033. Additionally, the Central Valley segment — which connects Merced to Bakersfield — has a funding gap of $6.5 billion, the report said.
Thursday’s action drew sharp rebuke from California Democrats who support the railroad. State Senator Scott Wiener accused Trump of trying to destroy the project.
“High-Speed Rail — or as I call it, a modern, integrated rail system for California — is essential for the future of our state,” Wiener said in a statement. “It’s an embarrassment that California does not have a modern statewide rail system — Trump wants to prolong that embarrassment instead of doing something to help.”
With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse and Aashna Shah.
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