Latest news with #High-SpeedRailAuthority
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
California High-Speed Rail Reveals New Plan To Save Project
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The California High-Speed Rail project, long beset by rising costs, delays, and political conflict, revealed a new plan led by its recently appointed CEO, Ian Choudri, that relies on $1 billion in annual state funding combined with private capital to help keep the project afloat. Choudri, who took charge of the High-Speed Rail Authority in August, explained during an interview at a transportation conference in San Francisco, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, emphasizing the potential of public-private partnerships to move the rail initiative forward. Why It Matters While the construction of the California high-speed rail advances across the Central Valley, it has faced growing doubts from the federal government. President Donald Trump has criticized the project, previously calling it a "waste" and a "green disaster." Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has also expressed doubts, citing concerns over the escalating costs and extended timeline, both of which have exceeded initial projections. An aerial image shows construction workers building the Hanford Viaduct over Highway 198 as part of the California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) transit project in Hanford, California on February 12, 2025. An aerial image shows construction workers building the Hanford Viaduct over Highway 198 as part of the California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) transit project in Hanford, California on February 12, 2025. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images What To Know Choudri's proposal centers on securing $1 billion annually from the state's climate emissions program, a fund typically allocated to clean energy initiatives such as public transit and electric vehicles, the Chronicle reported. "We are looking at state-level commitments so that we can bring private equity partners in," Choudri said in San Francisco while attending the American Public Transportation Association conference. The approach aims to establish a stable base of government support that can attract private investors to finance the remaining costs as the project advances. Industry partners see several revenue opportunities, including ticket sales and commercializing long corridors of railway rights-of-way. "There are significant ways to monetize (and) commercialize long linear rights of way," said Sia Kusha, senior vice president of Plenary Americas, which has experience in public-private infrastructure projects. Another option presented by former chair of the U.S. High-Speed Rail Association Dan Richard was the possibility of auctioning operational rights for the Central Valley segment after attracting an initial customer base—a strategy that has precedent in Japan's Shinkansen rail privatization, the Chronicle reported. What People Are Saying U.S. High Speed Rail Association former chair Dan Richard said, according to the San Francisco Chronicle: "There's always been a desire to have the private sector involved at the right time, when the risk is understood." In a recent statement, the California High-Speed Rail Authority said: "Construction progresses every day on the California high-speed rail project. In addition to continued progress across the Central Valley, the Authority also announced the completion of four grade separations at Fargo Avenue and Whitley Avenue in Kings County, and at Belmont Avenue and Central Avenue in Fresno County... "Since the start of high-speed rail construction, the project has created more than 15,300 good paying construction jobs, a majority going to residents of the Central Valley. As many as 1,700 workers are dispatched to a high-speed rail construction site daily." What Happens Next The rail project is moving into its tracklaying phase this year, following the completion of most of its central infrastructure, Newsweek reported previously.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump drives California into the arms of high-speed rail
President Donald Trump is about to snatch $4 billion away from California's high-speed rail project — and all that's doing is reinforcing Democrats' iron-willed support for the beleaguered venture. The Trump administration said Wednesday — in the form of a 300-page report — that it's on the verge of nixing Biden-era grants for the planned rail line from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, a conclusion state officials have feared since the president put the project in his crosshairs in February. Rather than being a death knell for a project that's years behind schedule and has a price tag that's ballooned from $33 billion to as much as $128 billion, Trump's attacks are fortifying state Democrats who hold the purse strings to its largest funding source — the state's emissions trading program for greenhouse gases. 'We've seen this coming and we're going to do everything we can to prevent it,' said Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener. 'Regardless of what happens here, we're committed to making this project a reality.' It's been a question just how much Democratic support the project would garner during negotiations to reauthorize the state's emissions trading system, as several lawmakers made it clear at the start of the year that high-speed rail isn't their priority amid finite climate funding. That uncertainty made its way into the Federal Railroad Administration's report, which, among other arguments, points to the lack of 'long-term stability of cap-and-trade proceeds' as a reason to cancel grants. But Trump's dual assaults on high-speed rail and cap-and-trade itself lit a fire under Gov. Gavin Newsom, who committed to reauthorizing the program this year after initially waffling on timing and championed a proposal to guarantee the rail line at least $1 billion in funding annually in his budget proposal last month. Republican lawmakers who've long blasted the project as a waste of taxpayer dollars are taking a victory lap. 'Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end for high-speed rail,' Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said during a press conference. 'This project needs to be over. It has been the biggest public infrastructure failure in American history.' Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor, when asked about Wednesday's news, pointed to the governor's budget press conference, where he doubled down on his support. 'I want to get it done, and that's our commitment. That's why it's still reflected in the cap-and-trade extension,' Newsom said. Carol Dahmen, the High-Speed Rail Authority's chief of strategic communications, said in a statement that the agency will 'correct the record' on the Trump administration's 'misguided' decision. But she also highlighted Newsom's proposal, saying $1 billion annually will be enough to 'complete the project's initial operating segment' from Bakersfield to Merced. Democrats' continued backing of high-speed rail also reflects an important reality of California politics: Labor unions can still make or break you. That's a lesson former Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter learned last month, after she bashed the project in a TV appearance before recalibrating at a labor event and saying she wants to 'put people to work, and I want to get it done for Californians.' A coalition of powerful labor and public government interests announced its cap-and-trade priorities last month, a list of infrastructure projects including high-speed rail. The project has employed nearly 15,000 union workers since construction started in 2015, more than any other infrastructure undertaking in the country. 'The time to double down is now,' said Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which represents carpenters, laborers, contractors and other construction unions. Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO's California Climate newsletter.
Politico
05-06-2025
- Business
- Politico
Trump drives California into the arms of high-speed rail
President Donald Trump is about to snatch $4 billion away from California's high-speed rail project — and all that's doing is reinforcing Democrats' iron-willed support for the beleaguered venture. The Trump administration said Wednesday — in the form of a 300-page report — that it's on the verge of nixing Biden-era grants for the planned rail line from Los Angeles to the Bay Area, a conclusion state officials have feared since the president put the project in his crosshairs in February. Rather than being a death knell for a project that's years behind schedule and has a price tag that's ballooned from $33 billion to as much as $128 billion, Trump's attacks are fortifying state Democrats who hold the purse strings to its largest funding source — the state's emissions trading program for greenhouse gases. 'We've seen this coming and we're going to do everything we can to prevent it,' said Senate Budget Committee Chair Scott Wiener. 'Regardless of what happens here, we're committed to making this project a reality.' It's been a question just how much Democratic support the project would garner during negotiations to reauthorize the state's emissions trading system, as several lawmakers made it clear at the start of the year that high-speed rail isn't their priority amid finite climate funding. That uncertainty made its way into the Federal Railroad Administration's report, which, among other arguments, points to the lack of 'long-term stability of cap-and-trade proceeds' as a reason to cancel grants. But Trump's dual assaults on high-speed rail and cap-and-trade itself lit a fire under Gov. Gavin Newsom, who committed to reauthorizing the program this year after initially waffling on timing and championed a proposal to guarantee the rail line at least $1 billion in funding annually in his budget proposal last month. Republican lawmakers who've long blasted the project as a waste of taxpayer dollars are taking a victory lap. 'Hopefully, this will be the beginning of the end for high-speed rail,' Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.) said during a press conference. 'This project needs to be over. It has been the biggest public infrastructure failure in American history.' Newsom spokesperson Daniel Villaseñor, when asked about Wednesday's news, pointed to the governor's budget press conference, where he doubled down on his support. 'I want to get it done, and that's our commitment. That's why it's still reflected in the cap-and-trade extension,' Newsom said. Carol Dahmen, the High-Speed Rail Authority's chief of strategic communications, said in a statement that the agency will 'correct the record' on the Trump administration's 'misguided' decision. But she also highlighted Newsom's proposal, saying $1 billion annually will be enough to 'complete the project's initial operating segment' from Bakersfield to Merced. Democrats' continued backing of high-speed rail also reflects an important reality of California politics: Labor unions can still make or break you. That's a lesson former Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Katie Porter learned last month, after she bashed the project in a TV appearance before recalibrating at a labor event and saying she wants to 'put people to work, and I want to get it done for Californians.' A coalition of powerful labor and public government interests announced its cap-and-trade priorities last month, a list of infrastructure projects including high-speed rail. The project has employed nearly 15,000 union workers since construction started in 2015, more than any other infrastructure undertaking in the country. 'The time to double down is now,' said Michael Quigley, executive director of the California Alliance for Jobs, which represents carpenters, laborers, contractors and other construction unions. Like this content? Consider signing up for POLITICO's California Climate newsletter.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
We gave $7B to California for a high-speed rail line and no track was ever laid: ‘Trains to nowhere'
The federal government handed $7 billion to California to build a high-speed rail line, but the Golden State never laid a single foot of track, according to a new report. This prompted Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to threaten that he may remove federal grants to the state's High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA). The 310-page report states that there were numerous missed deadlines and budget overruns. Duffy handed the authority a deadline of July 11 to respond or risk losing approximately $4 billion in grants. 'I promised the American people we would be good stewards of their hard-earned tax dollars,' Duffy said in a statement. 'This report exposes a cold, hard truth: CHSRA has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget.' 'CHSRA is on notice — If they can't deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects that can achieve President Trump's vision of building great, big, beautiful things again,' he added. 'Our country deserves high-speed rail that makes us proud – not boondoogle [sic] trains to nowhere.' The rail line was passed as a ballot initiative in 2008 and was supposed to run for 800 miles, connecting Sacramento and San Diego. The budget was $33 billion and the work was supposed to have been completed by 2020. However, in 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said there was nowhere to go after costs had reached $77.3 billion and the rail line had been restricted to run from Merced to Bakersfield. Subsequently, officials with the CHSRA applied for grants totaling $8 billion from the funds passed in former President Joe Biden's infrastructure legislation to finish that shorter rail line. However, in a letter sent Wednesday, the Federal Railroad Administration's acting administrator, Drew Feeley, said that nine months after the first batch of funding was sent in September last year, the authority had crossed a deadline to buy rail cars. Feeley went through other procurement problems and tallied up as much as $1.6 billion in misspent funding because of changed orders. In the end, it's considered unlikely that the project will be finished by its new deadline of 2033. 'CHSRA relied on the false hope of an unending spigot of Federal taxpayer dollars,' Feeley wrote. 'In essence, CHSRA has conned the taxpayer out of its $4 billion investment, with no viable plan to deliver even that partial segment on time.' The California rail authority inspector general found in February that there was a budget shortfall of $7 billion. The federal government had handed the project $6.9 billion since 2010. Speaking to reporters last month, Newsom noted that a high-speed rail project connecting Dallas and Houston had been abandoned. 'You can see the progress we've actually made,' he said at the time. 'We're now on the other side of the environmental reviews; we're on the other side of the land acquisition.' But a spokesperson for the rail authority said the findings of the four-month review were 'misguided' and didn't reflect the project. 'The Authority will fully address and correct the record in our formal response,' a spokesperson said, according to The Los Angeles Times. 'We remain firmly committed to completing the nation's first true high-speed rail system connecting the major population centers in the state.'
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump admin threatens to halt funding for California's ‘boondoggle' high-speed rail project
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Wednesday threatened to halt all funding to California's high-speed rail project, calling it a 'boondoggle' with no viable path forward. In a 310-page report and a letter to Ian Choudri, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, Duffy alleged 'a trail of project delays, mismanagement, waste and skyrocketing costs' that have already cost taxpayers approximately $6.9 billion and failed to lay any track. 'I promised the American people we would be good stewards of their hard-earned tax dollars. This report exposes a cold, hard truth: CHSRA has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget,' Duffy said. 'CHSRA is on notice — if they can't deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects that can achieve President Trump's vision of building great, big, beautiful things again.' Duffy gave Choudri 37 days to respond to the report, after which $4 billion in grants could be terminated, he said. Voters first approved $10 billion in bond money in 2008 to cover one-third of the estimated cost of building the rail line, which would connect Los Angeles to San Francisco, with the aim of having trains up and running by 2020. The current construction involves only a 171-mile segment from Merced to Bakersfield in California's Central Valley, which the authority hopes to begin testing in 2028. In 2023, then-President Joe Biden awarded a $3 billion grant to help officials complete the first phase of the project. That grant came after he reinstated a $1 billion grant to the High-Speed Rail Authority that the first Trump administration had previously blocked. The California High-Speed Rail Authority did not immediately respond to KTLA's request for comment. Opinion: Trump is right, California's high-speed rail project is a mess Choudri, who was appointed CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority in August, is tasked with reinvigorating the nation's largest infrastructure project amid skyrocketing costs. 'We started this one, and we are not succeeding,' Choudri said, describing what drew him to the job after work on high-speed systems in Europe. 'That was the main reason for me to say, let's go in, completely turn it around, and put it back to where it should have been. Fix all the issues, get the funding stabilized, and demonstrate to the rest of the world that when we decide that we want to do it, we actually will do it.' The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
