WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy this morning released a report proclaiming there is “no viable path” to complete the California High Speed Rail project on time or on budget, setting the stage for the cancellation of $4 billion in federal grants.
Given that the original plan called for completion in 2020 at a cost of $33 billion, and that Republican legislators in the House of Representatives said last year that the estimated cost of that the still-unfinished project is up to $128 billion, this is less than surprising.
The 315-page report and cover letter stems from Duffy’s February announcement that Federal Railroad Administration would investigate the California High Speed Rail Authority’s compliance with the terms of the project’s federal grants [see “FRA to examine California high speed project,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2025]. It includes what the report calls nine key findings that show the project has not met those terms. A U.S. Department of Transportation press release says the California agency has 37 days to respond, after which any unspent funds from previously awarded grants could be rescinded and used elsewhere.
The report’s findings of non-compliance include three dealing with an inability to begin service on the Early Operating Segment, or EOS, by 2033. Others deal with a current funding gap of at least $7 billion; the state’s method of funding; a missed deadline for equipment procurement; the number of change orders in the project; overrepresentation of potential riders; and an inadequate contingency budget.
The troubled California project has long been a target of Republican politicians in the state and elsewhere. It has also been opposed by Elon Musk, the billionaire advisor to President Donald Trump who recently concluded a period overseeing the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency.” Trump, in calling for an investigation in February, said it was “the worst managed project I think I’ve seen.”
In a statement reported by the New York Times, a spokesman of the high speed rail authority said the agency will “fully address and correct the record in our formal response.
“We remain firmly committed to completing the nation’s first true high-speed rail system connecting the major population centers in the state,” said spokesman Micah Flores. “While continued federal partnership is important to the project, the majority of our funding has been provided by the state.”
— Updated at 6:10 p.m. CT with comment from California High Speed Rail Authority.
