Passenger rail projects, as many industry observers have been pointing out since POTUS 45 won a second term this past Presidential election, will suffer under the POTUS 47 regime. California’s High Speed Rail project could likely be the first casualty.
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Feb. 20, at the direction of Secretary of Transportation Sean P. Duffy, initiated a review of the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) to “help determine whether roughly $4 billion in taxpayer money should remain committed to the proposed project to build high-speed rail in the California Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield,” the agency said in a press release.
In a letter to CHSRA CEO Ian Choudri, FRA Chief Counsel Kyle Fields said the agency is “notifying you of its intention to initiate a review of [your] compliance under FRA-administrated grants for the California High-Speed Rail Project, including but not limited to the following agreements: FR-HSR-0118-12 and 69A36524521070FSPCA. FRA is initiating this compliance review consistent with the terms and conditions of [these agreements].”
“As you are aware, FRA recently completed an annual monitoring review on Oct. 23, 2024,” Fields said. “The monitoring review identified six areas of interest. In addition, the CHSRA Inspector General published a report on Feb. 3, 2025, that reviewed the Merced-Bakersfield segment of the project and found CHSRA’s schedule may not accurately account for current conditions and risks. (CHSRA Inspector General, Merced to Bakersfield Segment: The Authority Is Unlikely to Complete the Segment as Currently Envisioned within Its Planned Schedule). FRA intends to seek additional information to evaluate CHSRA’s performance and ability to perform under the FRA-administered funding agreements, including whether it is complying with the requirements set forth therein. FRA may conduct site visits and review project activities, systems and documents, including financial records, as appropriate. As required under the terms of the various agreements, FRA expects CHSRA will fully and promptly cooperate with the compliance review. FRA is further advising CHSRA that the compliance review and resulting findings may result in remedial action up to and including withholding of reimbursement and termination of cooperative agreements. Please be advised that any work completed from the date of this notice forward is at the risk of CHSRA. This notice is effective immediately.”
“The entire San Francisco to Los Angeles project was initially supposed to be completed by 2020 and cost $33 billion,” FRA said in the press release. “Today, the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment alone would cost more than the original total. The latest estimate for San Francisco to Los Angeles is $106 billion—more than three times the original cost estimate.”
“For too long, taxpayers have subsidized the massively over-budget and delayed California High-Speed Rail project,” Duffy said in the press release. “[POTUS 47] is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation. That is why I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the CHSRA has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding. If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States.”
“As recently noted by the California High-Speed Rail Office of the Inspector General, just the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment has a funding gap of at least $6.5 billion,” FRA said. “That gap remains despite California being due to receive [more than] $4 billion from the Biden Administration. The CHSRA Inspector General also found that even this limited project, with barely 2 million in annual projected ridership because it fails to connect California’s larger cities, is unlikely to be completed by 2033. In March of 2023, the CHSRA Peer Review Group, charged with evaluating CHSRA’s funding plans, reported an ‘unfunded gap of $92.6 billion to $103.1 billion between estimated costs and known State and Federal funding’ for the San Francisco-to-Las Angeles connection. Given the red flags raised about this project, FRA will investigate the delays and cost overruns through a compliance and performance review.”
FRA added that “the slow progress by CHSRA contrasts with the impressive work of Brightline West to build a high-speed rail system. Brightline West plans to begin service between the Los Angeles region and Las Vegas in 2028. At the direction of Secretary Duffy, FRA will review CHSRA and the progress on the Merced-to-Bakersfield Corridor. The detailed review will look at CHSRA’s compliance under the FRA-administered grant agreements to determine whether CHSRA has fully met its obligations under the award terms.”
Could this action be politically motivated? Note that, in the 2024 Presidential election, Kamala Harris and Tim Waltz won California’s (a so-called “Blue State”) popular vote by a 20.14% margin, capturing 54 electoral votes. In Nevada (a so-called “Red State”), the Harris-Waltz ticket lost the popular vote by 3.10%, giving the state’s 6 electoral votes to the POTUS 47 ticket.
AFL-CIO TTD: CHSR Not a “Crappy Project”
Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer, respectively, of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), released the following statement in response to Duffy’s project-dumping attempt:
“As America’s largest transportation labor federation, representing thousands of rail and building trades workers who will build, operate, and maintain the California High-Speed Rail system, we strongly disagree with Secretary Duffy’s remarks that this is ‘a crappy project’ and ‘a train to nowhere’.
“The California High-Speed Rail (CHSR) project is the most ambitious and innovative transportation project in the entire country. It has created thousands of middle-class jobs, putting more than 14,600 Americans to work already, and been an economic boon to more than 800 small businesses that are involved in the project. Most of the 500-mile Phase 1 System from San Francisco to Los Angeles is shovel-ready, with 171 miles under active construction across the Central Valley and nearly 40 construction projects that have been completed. The project continues to enjoy popular support from Californians, with a majority saying they believe it is a good use of state funds.
“Despite false claims from critics, the State of California has funded the majority of this 21st century project—not federal dollars. Amid funding setbacks over the years, including a $929 million federal grant that [POTUS 47] cancelled in 2019 [during his first term], the project is making significant progress. The independent Inspector General of the California High-Speed Rail Authority provided recommendations on improving the project’s efficiency and recognized efforts to implement them. Those who claim to care about fiscal responsibility should focus on helping America build faster, rather than stalling construction, which will only drive up costs.
“Building ambitious projects requires bold leadership and a commitment to getting the job done. Just last year, [POTUS 47] complained that the United States does not have bullet trains similar to Japan. We agree with him that it is past time for our country to have these kinds of modern, efficient, high-capacity transportation systems. We also realize that those nations with bullet trains are ones who prioritized and paid for them. We are the wealthiest country in the world, and Americans deserve world-class trains right here at home. We urge the President to truly be a Builder-in-Chief by bringing high-speed rail to America.”
According to Newsweek, the Oval Office’s current occupant in August 2024 praised Japan’s high-speed passenger trains during a live audio conversation with First Pal and DOGE head/chaos coordinator/chainsaw brandisher Elon Musk on X, (formerly Twitter): “They go unbelievably fast, unbelievably comfortable with no problems, and we don’t have anything like that in this country. Not even close. And it doesn’t make sense that we don’t, doesn’t make sense.”
Relegating the United States to third-world-nation status in passenger rail? Doesn’t make sense. Hyperloops, anyone? Fleets of Metal Monstrosities (Cybertrucks)?
