Trump Administration cuts funding for California’s high-speed rail

The U.S. Department of Transportation has announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has withdrawn funding for four projects linked to California’s high-speed rail scheme. The move cuts an additional 175 million dollars in federal money, following the earlier cancellation of 4 billion dollars by the Biden administration.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy criticised the project as wasteful and poorly managed.

The four projects losing federal funding are the Le Grand Overcrossing on the Merced extension, worth 89.6 million dollars; Southern San Jose grade separations on Monterey Road, 7.5 million dollars; the Downtown Extension final design for track and rail systems by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, 24.7 million dollars; and Madera High-Speed Rail Station, 54.5 million dollars.

Duffy also directed the FRA to review all obligated grants associated with the California high-speed rail scheme, which has long been criticised for spiralling costs and delays. Around 15 billion dollars has already been spent, with the projected cost now standing at 135 billion dollars. According to the Department of Transportation, this amount could buy every San Francisco and Los Angeles resident nearly 200 round trips between the cities.

“In twenty years, California has not been able to lay a single track of high-speed rail. Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg did not care about these failures and dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s wish list of related fantasy projects,” Duffy added.

The Department highlighted that in July it terminated 4 billion dollars in FRA grant funding to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), citing an extensive report which concluded the authority would not complete the Merced to Bakersfield line by 2033.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has said the project will continue despite the federal cuts. The state has launched legal action against the Trump administration’s earlier withdrawal of funds and plans to rely on its cap-and-trade programme, which is expected to generate 1 billion dollars annually to finance construction.

Approved by voters in 2008, the high-speed line between Los Angeles and San Francisco was initially estimated at 33 billion dollars and a 2020 completion. The Central Valley section is currently under construction and may open in the 2030s, with the full system to follow later.