Transportation secretary announces review of high-speed rail project

News release

WASHINGTON – At the direction of Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy, the Federal Railroad Administration has initiated a review of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.  

This review will help determine whether roughly $4 billion in taxpayer money should remain committed to the proposed project to build high-speed rail in the California Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield. 

The entire San Francisco to Los Angeles project was initially supposed to be completed by 2020 and cost $33 billion. Today, the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment alone would cost more than the original total. The latest estimate for San Francisco to Los Angeles is $106 billion — more than three times the original cost estimate. 

“For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy said in a news release. “President Trump is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation. That is why I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the CHSRA has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States.” 

As recently noted by the California High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General, just the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment has a funding gap of at least $6.5 billion. That gap remains despite California being due to receive over $4 billion from the Biden Administration. The CHSRA Inspector General also found that even this limited project, with barely 2 million in annual projected ridership because it fails to connect California’s larger cities, is unlikely to be completed by 2033. 

In March 2023, the CHSRA Peer Review Group, charged with evaluating CHSRA’s funding plans, reported an “unfunded gap of $92.6 billion to $103.1 billion between estimated costs and known state and federal funding” for the San Francisco-to-Las Angeles connection. Given the red flags raised about this project, FRA will investigate the delays and cost overruns through a compliance and performance review, the release said. 

The slow progress by CHSRA contrasts with the work of Brightline West to build a high-speed rail system. Brightline West plans to begin service between the Los Angeles region and Las Vegas in 2028, the release said. 

At the direction of Duffy, FRA will review CHSRA and the progress on the Merced-to-Bakersfield Corridor. The detailed review will look at CHSRA’s compliance under the FRA-administered grant agreements to determine whether CHSRA has fully met its obligations under the award terms, according to the release. 

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