“I want to see high-speed rail in America,” he told Fox News. “Why it can’t be built in America and why it can’t be built within time frames that work for the people that invest in these projects makes no sense to me.”
Before the administration can terminate the funding, California has 30 days to take any corrective action and make the case that it has complied with the terms of the grant.
CHSRA on Wednesday said the report’s conclusions were “misguided and do not reflect the substantial progress made to deliver high-speed rail in California.”
“We remain firmly committed to completing the nation’s first true high-speed rail system connecting the major population centers in the state,” CHSRA spokesperson Daniela Contreras said in a statement to KQED. She noted that while ongoing federal support is important, the majority of the project’s funding has come from the state.
“To that end, the Governor’s budget proposal, which is currently before the Legislature, extends at least $1 billion per year in funding for the next 20 years, providing the necessary resources to complete the project’s initial operating segment,” Contreras said.
When California voters approved a $10 billion high-speed rail bond measure in 2008, the project’s promoters suggested the entire system could be completed in just over a decade, for under $40 billion. But those timelines have been repeatedly extended, and costs have skyrocketed — with CHSRA’s estimates now ranging from $89 billion to $128 billion.
Nevertheless, Gov. Gavin Newsom and state Democrats have continued to fund the project in previous budgets, and are expected to do so again this year, even as the state now faces a $12 billion shortfall.
The governor, who is already challenging multiple other threats by the administration to withhold health care and education funding from the state, has also vowed to fight any effort to revoke rail funding.
But even if the $4 billion in federal funding is preserved, the state would still need to come up with as much as $6.5 billion more to finish the Central Valley segment, prompting the inspector general for CHSRA to recently cast doubt on whether the agency can line up all the necessary funding to meet its 2033 service launch date.
