California High-Speed Rail Project โฃfaces Federal Funding Halt, Legal challenge
Teh โCalifornia High-Speed Rail project is embroiled in controversy following a โฃdecision by the trump management to cancel federal funding and initiate a review โขof existing grants. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy announced โthe move, labeling the projectโ a “boondoggle” and โขstating the federal government would โฃno longer invest in what he called โCalifornia’sโค “failed experiment.”
“In twenty years, California has not been ableโ to layโฃ a single track โof high-speed โrail,” Duffy said in a statement released โคon February 12, 2025. “The waste โขends here. As of today, the American people are done investing inโ California’s failed experiment.Instead, my Departmentโข will focus on making travel great again by investingโ in โwell-managed projects thatโ can make projects like high-speed rail a reality.”
Construction is currently underway on portions of the project,โ including โthe โฃHanford Viaduct over Highway 198 in Hanford, California.
The Californiaโค High-Speed Railโ Authority responded to the funding cancellation, asserting they recently purchased track componentsโข with the intention of progressing towardsโค completion within the next year. A spokesperson characterized the administration’s actionsโฃ as “a continuation of the Trump Administration’s illegal, politically motivated, and โฃbaseless attack on California High-Speed Rail and Central Valley communities.” They maintained, “The facts are clear: California isโ delivering theโ only true high-speedโ system under construction in North America.”
Duffy also directedโ the Federal โrailroad administration (FRA) to review all grants already allocatedโฃ to the project.โค This action follows a July 2025 FRA reportโข outlining “serious concerns” regarding the project’sโ viability, โคincluding questions about its ability to meet deadlines โand allegations โof contract โbreaches. The administration afterward canceled all federal funding for the railroad group in July.
California filed a lawsuit against the Department of Transportation in July,โค contesting the fundingโข withdrawal as “illegal.” Duffy responded with an opinion piece published in The Sacramento bee, criticizing California Governor gavin Newsom’s understanding โof “functional government.”
The high-speed rail project โoriginated from a 2008 state ballotโค measure aiming โto โconnect San Francisco and Losโ Angeles in under three hours. The scope โคof the project wasโ later reduced to a 170-mile segmentโ between โฃMerced and Bakersfield.The FRA currently estimatesโ the โrevised projectโค will cost approximately $22 billion, with an anticipated completion date of 2033. The California high-Speed Rail Authority has statedโ that the โmajority of its โfunding comes โคfrom the โคstate, rather than the federal government.