US EditionCalifornia high-speed rail project needs $7 billion by next summer
- During a Wednesday budget hearing in the state assembly, California Legislative Analyst Office representative Helen Kerstein stated that the California high-speed rail project could halt in a month if it does not address its $7 billion shortfall by next June.
- Originally pitched to voters in 2008 as a $40 billion project connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, the bullet train's estimated cost has ballooned to at least $100 billion, with most of the funding still unrealized.
- The state has already spent approximately $14 billion on the project, including $1.4 billion for a partially completed 22-mile segment of raised dirt with 11 overpass structures between Merced and Bakersfield, but zero feet of track have been laid to date.
- California Governor Gavin Newsom defended the project on his podcast, stating, "There's not a high-speed rail system that doesn't have some popularity and success...at least we're out there daring,", while Mark Tollefson, chief of staff for the High-Speed Rail Authority, said the project's new CEO is working to review the project overall.
- Facing increasing scrutiny and a potential cutoff of federal funding through legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Kevin Kiley, the project faces an uncertain future, with some lawmakers calling for its abandonment, as Assemblymember Alexandra Macedo stated, "We don't have the time, we don't have the money, we just need to pull the plug on this project.
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35 Articles
The Political Insider
Red Wave PressCalifornia High Speed Rail Needs $7B Bailout, Could Lose Federal Funds
Credit: State of California via Wikimedia California’s $35 billion high speed rail project for its sparsely populated Central Valley requires at least a $7 billion bailout to be done by 2033. The Trump administration is investigating federal funding of the project, and a bill in Congress could end further federal funding for the project entirely. “There is a funding gap of roughly $7 billion for completing the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment,” wro…
CA's high-speed rail project needs to secure $7 billion by summer of 2026
The $7 billion would go to finishing the first section of the rail project, between Merced and Bakersfield. The price tag for the whole San Francisco-LA line is at least $100 billion.
Billions Over Budget and Years Behind Schedule, California’s ‘Train To Nowhere’ Asks State for Another $7 Billion
A Democratic member of the assembly, Steven Bennett, says there is ‘no plan’ for the much-maligned project and a ‘good likelihood it’s going to get worse.’
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