Two weeks after the Trump administration issued a compliance review for California’s high-speed rail projects, the Railroad Director underscored the need for new sources of funding to ensure the completion of the train.
At a board meeting Thursday, Ian Choudhli, CEO of the High Speed Railroad Bureau, said he warned that authorities will continue to demand federal dollars and that timelines and prices could increase if the significant funding gaps do not close.
Choudri said Thursday that “inefficientity is not stabilizing the funding approach we have reached this conclusion” would continue to pose a risk of schedule and costs.
He said industry experts are gathering to establish plans and will continue to communicate with the governor’s office, the state Treasury Department and Legislature.
Choudri’s comments arise as the project faces new surveillance. This could put federal funding commitments at risk when planners are already trying to find hundreds of billions of dollars to end the rail system. This review focuses on the $4 billion promise made under the Biden administration for the construction of the Central Valley.
The challenges to project timeline and budgets have been recognized by previous board meetings of members, transport experts and project leadership. The first part of the line is expected to open 13 years after the entire project was originally due to be carried out – in 2020, the budget is about $100 billion more than the initially proposed $30 billion. Lawmakers and state-appointed advisory groups say private investment is needed to complete the project.
Railway critic Rep. Kevin Killie (R. Locklin) wrote a letter to FBI director Kash Patel on Tuesday asking the agency to investigate the authorities. This comes after Kiley previously introduced a bill to refund the project and asked the Department of Transport to begin an investigation.
“How is it possible to spend more than $13 billion without opening one station? Where did these funds go? Who benefited from it,” he wrote.
Authorities welcomed the investigation and said they posted to X that the project had been audited more than 100 times.
“Every dollar is an account, and progress is authentic. 50 structures will be built, 14,600 jobs will be created and 171 miles will be built.”
More than 80% of spending is funded through the state, board chair Tom Kelly said Tuesday.
Construction of the project is limited to stretching in Central Valley, with the Bakersfield to Merced segment being completed by 2033. The entire route from San Francisco and Los Angeles was environmentally cleared for construction last year, but it is not clear when construction will begin elsewhere.
Kelly stressed that the project will affect states beyond California, with the goal of establishing southwestern corridors, including Arizona and New Mexico, and reiterated plans to connect to the privately owned Brightline West project connecting Southern California and Las Vegas.
“It’s not just a California project,” Kelly said.
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