LOS ANGELES — California’s high speed rail project, long in the crosshairs of President Donald Trump and his top advisor, billionaire Elon Musk, will be the subject of a compliance review, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said today (Thursday, Feb. 20).
KABC-TV reports that Duffy said at a Los Angeles press conference that his agency is “going to look at whether the California High-Speed Rail Authority has actually complied with the agreements that they’ve signed with the federal government. We can’t just say we’re going to give money and then not hold states accountable to how they spend that money.”
In a Department of Transportation press release, Duffy said the review will determine whether $4 billion in federal funds should remain committed to the project and that “President Trump is right that this project is in dire need of an investigation.” The Federal Railroad Administration will review the authority and its progress in building the Merced-Bakersfield segment, and determine whether the authority has med its obligations under the terms of the grants.
The release compares the California project with “the impressive work of Brightline West” which “plans to begin service between the Los Angeles region and Las Vegas in 2028.” That project has not yet begun construction.
Trump has called the California effort “the worst-managed project I think I’ve ever seen,” and Musk said in a recent social media post that the project “is an example of where incompetence in the limit is indistinguishable from fraud.”
California state Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) responded to Duffy’s announcement with a statement in which he called efforts to derail the high-speed project “a massive government handout” to Musk, “who is afraid that modern public transportation will undermine his business interests — including Tesla and his scam ‘Boring Company.’ … High-Speed Rail is an incredibly transparent project that has nothing to hide. The project has an independent inspector general established by the legislature and is subject to ongoing, broad-based public scrutiny.”
The project is years behind schedule and well over budget.
Announcement of the review came the day after release of a survey showing that a majority of Californians still support the high-speed project. The survey, commissioned by Nexstar Media — with six California stations among its more than 200 nationwide — was conducted by Emerson College and found 54% of those surveyed considered the project a good use of state money. The numbers parallel those in a 2022 poll by UC Berkeley and the Los Angeles Times that found 56% in support.
If you look at the current Central Valley right-of-way, how much (percentage) is complete? Has track been laid in the completed sections? If not, why not? How much of the project ROW is raised concrete and how much on the ground? Is there a source for answers to such questions? Is a puzzlement.
$4 Billion is a drop in the bucket when compared with the full cost of the project (which is a bit embarrassing, and reflective of both problems with this project and construction in this country overall). It would seem that California wisely did not put all of their eggs into the FDOT basket and, considering their GDP, could probably afford to pay off the rest of the project completely in-state.
CAHSR is a good project that has been unfortunately mismanaged, and likely has helped to taint the waters against any expansion of true HSR outside of this and the NEC for years to come. I still think it ought to be seen through to completion.
Yes the water is tainted. The way to untaint the water is to complete a project that comes in on time on budget. So far is these early stages, I have seen nothing to criticize in the Gateway and Frederick Douglass projects. Let’s hope.
Survey responses always depend on how the survey questions are designed and who responds to them. Without seeing the exact wording of the questions, the heading of the survey or the breakout of the participants, its very hard to tell if the survey is valid.
Trump needs to investigate this project if he finds out that that money has been going to the Pelosi Cartel for bribery he is going to kill the project. Kerns county needs to complete that viaduct and get some track down this year. If they want to get down to Mojave before 2028 they need to get work done now. Also of California wants to save money they need to cancel the contract with Alstom and build them locally in Sacramento. Siemens Mobility is the way to go it is home built it is American made that is what Brightline did and if they want to get those trains down to Las Vegas they need to finish their section and get down to Mojave this year that way they can begin testing in 2028. Gavin Newsom and Nancy Pelosi have wasted a lot of money it is time to clear up the corruption and get this project finished before the games starts.
“Pelosi Cartel for bribery” What a waste of space in the comment section, unless you can prove what you blab then use your pie hole for what it’s meant for.
Oh, I can tell Sen. Scott Wiener what CalHSR is hiding. It’s as plain as can be. CalHSR is struggling to finish the easy part and has no idea how to do the hard parts at the north and the south. Which haven’t even started construction.
Everything I’ve seen or read about CalHSR in the valley is that it’s a simple, unchallenging project. The only remarkable aspect of it is how long it is. Highway projects I’ve seen are much more difficult. Boston’s Big Dig, Milwaukee’s Marquette Interchange, and the I-294 (Tristate Tollway) reconstruction from O’Hare Airport down to the southwest suburbs, are all much more difficult but got done.
California ought to be ashamed of themselves. The sickening incompetence of CalHSR’s managers turns my stomach.