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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
California high-speed rail has federal funding cancelled
The Trump administration and its Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy have scrapped billions of dollars in federal funding for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). While this has been presented as a financial decision, Trump's words to describe the Governor of California, a political opponent, suggested it is part of his ongoing campaign against the largest and richest state in the US. The cut is worth at least $4bn, but while this is only a small part of the California High-Speed Rail project's overall budget, it could make the continuation of the project impossible. The cancelled funding allocations are known as the FSP Agreement and the FY10 Agreement. The project was on track to cost as much as $128 billion, significantly higher than its original estimate of $33 billion. A key aim of the project was 'creating the greenest infrastructure project in the nation, both in its operations and its construction.' The Department of Transportation described the project as 'California's High Speed Rail Boondoggle'. Boondoggle is a US term used to describe wasteful or fraudulent spending on capital projects. Its statement also echoes Trump's previous assertions that a new rail route is unneeded because roads and aviation routes exist. 'The $135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and LA resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities,' it said. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy put it bluntly in his own statement: 'It's time for this boondoggle to die.' He then extended the political attack on the California state administration, and Gavin Newsom, who has been vocal in his opposition to the actions of the Trump federal government. 'This is California's fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA's mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget,' Duffy asserted. The cut followed a review of the federal funding allocated to the CHSRA, which found the Authority 'cannot meet its obligations under the grant agreement'. Duffy said further reviews into further funding were now underway. The decision, which was foreshadowed by Trump and Duffy's words over the past week, was met with anger by Californian officials. CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri said: 'Cancelling these grants without cause isn't just wrong — it's illegal.' 'These are legally binding agreements, and the Authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025. America's only high-speed rail project underway is fast approaching the track-laying phase, with 171 miles under active construction and design, 15,500 jobs created, and more than 50 major structures completed. This is no time for Washington to walk away on America's transportation future,' Choudri added. Governor Newsom said the funding reversal would benefit China (which has already built more than 20,000 miles of high-speed railways) instead of the US, and the California State government would challenge the decision in court. 'Trump wants to hand China the future and abandon the Central Valley. We won't let him. With projects like the Texas high-speed rail failing to take off, we are miles ahead of others. We're now in the track-laying phase and building America's only high-speed rail. California is putting all options on the table to fight this illegal action,' Newsom said. Aside from the party politics, the DoT and Federal Railroad Administration under Secretary Duffy cited several reasons for stopping the funding. These centre around the finding that CHSRA will 'not be able to deliver the operation of a Merced-to-Bakersfield corridor by the end of 2033'. The full decision letter can be found here. The reasons given include: 'CHSRA has already missed its deadline for finalizing its rolling stock procurement. CHSRA has at least a $7 billion funding gap to complete the EOS, with no credible plan to secure additional funds. CHSRA does not have a viable path to complete the EOS by 2033 per its commitment in the FY10 Agreement and the FSP Agreement. CHSRA relies on volatile non-federal funding sources, which present significant project risk. CHSRA lacks time and money to electrify the EOS by 2033. CHSRA's budget contingency is inadequate to cover anticipated contractor delay claims.' A full response to these points was delivered by the CHSRA in a letter, which can be read here. While not specifically mentioned in the decision document, the lack of laid track has become a key talking point in Duffy and Trump's public communication on the project. Though it is true that no actual track has yet been laid for the high-speed line, Choudri said this is due to the significant infrastructure like bridges, viaducts, and underpasses that must be built first, many of which have been completed. 'I must also take this opportunity to dispute, in the strongest possible terms, the misleading claim that the Authority has made 'minimal progress to advance construction,'' wrote Choudri on 12 July. 'The Authority's work has already reshaped the Central Valley. We have built many of the viaducts, overpasses, and underpasses on which the first 119 miles of high-speed rail track will run.' "California high-speed rail has federal funding cancelled" was originally created and published by Railway Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. 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New York Post
4 days ago
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump terminates federal funding for California's $135B high-speed rail ‘boondoggle': ‘TRAIN TO NOWHERE'
President Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Wednesday that about $4 billion in unspent federal funding for California's significantly delayed and overbudget high-speed rail project has been terminated. 'To the Law abiding, Tax paying, Hardworking Citizens of the United States of America, I am thrilled to announce that I have officially freed you from funding California's disastrously overpriced, 'HIGH SPEED TRAIN TO NOWHERE,'' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of California, Gavin Newscum, has cost Taxpayers Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we have received NOTHING in return except Cost Overruns,' the president fumed, using his preferred nickname for Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom. 'The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will.' 4 Trump described the project as a 'boondoggle' and blamed Gavin Newsom for its failure. Getty Images Originally passed as a ballot initiative in 2008, the 800-mile rail line was supposed to be completed in two phases on a $33 billion budget by 2020, with a main line connecting San Francisco with Los Angeles and branches stretching north to Sacramento and south to San Diego. By 2019, Newsom announced that there was no path forward after costs ballooned to $77.3 billion and the project was drawn down to a 171-mile section between Merced and Bakersfield. California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) officials later applied for $8 billion in grants from former President Joe Biden's 2021 infrastructure law to help complete that Central Valley Segment, which has since been abbreviated further — to just 119 miles. CHSRA blew through nearly $7 billion in taxpayer funds over a decade and a half without laying a single foot of track, according to the Department of Transportation, which notes the projected cost of the project has since risen to $135 billion. Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) acting administrator Drew Feeley notified CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri of the decision to 'de-obligate' federal funds for the project in a letter Wednesday. Feeley noted that FRA determined that CHSRA 'breached the commitments made' in a 2010 agreement with federal government for funding and based on California's 'inability to complete' the project by a revised Dec. 31, 2033 deadline, the project 'does not adequately serve the purpose of the statute under which the FY10 Agreement was authorized and funded.' 4 Trump announced the termination of federal funding for California's high-speed rail project in a Truth Social post Wednesday. Truth Social/@realDonaldTrump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, whose department oversees FRA, has further directed the agency to consult with the Department of Justice on possibly clawing back federal funds for the failed high-speed rail project. 'This is California's fault,' Duffy said in a statement. 'Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years.' 'Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results,' the transportation secretary continued. 'After over a decade of failures, CHSRA's mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget.' 'It's time for this boondoggle to die. President Trump and I will always fight to ensure your tax dollars only go to projects that accomplish great, big, beautiful things.' 4 Duffy ordered a review of the project earlier this year. Getty Images 4 Newsom signaled that California might sue the Trump administration to keep federal funds for the project flowing. REUTERS Duffy's efforts to pull the plug on the project date back to February, when he announced a review of the CHSRA's plan after the authority released a report indicating that it would be unable to meet future deadlines. In June, Duffy released a report determining that there was 'no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget.' The compliance review, conducted by FRA, also found that CHSRA's high speed rail project was in default of the terms of its federal grant awards, missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and overprojected ridership. Unsatisfied with CHSRA's response to the compliance review, the Trump administration officially scrapped all future federal funding for California high-speed rail on Tuesday. 'This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED,' Trump said. 'Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again.' 'This was an ill-conceived and unnecessary project, and a total waste of Taxpayer money — But no more!' Newsom teased that California may challenge the Trump administration's action in court. 'Round of applause for [Trump] and [Duffy] on handing China the future and abandoning the Central Valley — again!' the Golden State governor wrote on X. 'But sorry to disappoint: We're not letting that happen.' '[California High Speed Rail Authority] is entering the track-laying phase and actively building across 171 miles — with 50 major railway structures and 60 miles of guideway already completed,' Newsom claimed. 'We will be exploring all options to fight this illegal action.'
