Trump administration moves to revoke funding for California bullet train

(CN) — The Trump administration on Wednesday released a report concluding there’s no viable path forward for California’s long-delayed, over-budget bullet train, putting $4 billion in federal funding at risk.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said a Federal Railroad Administration report found the project in default of its federal grant terms due to missed deadlines, budget shortfalls and inflated ridership projections.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority, which oversees the project, has 37 days to respond to the report’s findings, after which the federal grants may be terminated, Duffy said in the announcement.

“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.”

In 2023, the Biden administration awarded nearly $3.1 billion for construction in California’s Central Valley, supporting the overall end goal of connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles with a high-speed rail line.

California’s long-promised bullet train has faced massive cost overruns and is still focused on the first segment, currently under construction in the state’s agricultural heartland.

When California voters first passed Proposition 1A in 2008, the initial price tag was estimated at approximately $33 billion, with a completion date of 2018. The cost estimate has since climbed to $128 billion, and the completion year has been pushed from 2033 to an uncertain date.

The Trump administration’s move isn’t surprising, as during his first term in office, President Donald Trump canceled $1 billion in federal funding for the project, calling it “a green disaster.”

The federal government previously approved starting the project in California’s Central Valley to avoid right-of-way issues and spark economic development in economically disadvantaged areas with poor air quality. But even that segment connecting Merced to Bakersfield could cost between $3 billion and $10 billion to finish.

“To secure substantial federal funding, CHSRA represented that it could connect major metropolitan cities in California, but can now only deliver a system that is reduced substantially and delayed significantly, which may connect two random endpoints,” according to the Federal Railroad Administration’s report.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority said it strongly disagrees with the FRA’s conclusions, calling them misguided and not reflective of the project’s progress.

“We remain firmly committed to completing the nation’s first true high-speed rail system connecting the major population centers in the state,” the authority said. “While continued federal partnership is important to the project, the majority of our funding has been provided by the state.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom’s budget proposal, now before the legislature, would provide at least $1 billion annually for 20 years to fund the bullet train’s initial operating segment, according to the rail authority.

“The authority will fully address and correct the record in our formal response to the FRA’s notice,” according to the statement.

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