Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and legislative leaders agreed this week to authorize billions of dollars for a high-speed rail project that has become the object of intense criticism from the Trump administration.
After President Donald Trump pulled $4 billion in federal funding from the “bullet train” in July, a move that threatened to grind the development to a halt, the project’s chief executive announced Thursday the Newsom administration has crafted a deal to keep it alive. The agreement, expected to be passed in a final vote on Saturday, would allocate $20 billion to the project, with $1 billion going toward construction annually over the next 20 years, according to High Speed Rail Authority Chief Executive Ian Choudri.
“This agreement demonstrates that Californians are standing up to the Trump Administration’s backward-thinking obstruction and choosing instead to invest boldly in the future,” Choudri said in a statement. “As we move forward, I am greatly encouraged by commitments to continue productive discussions with the administration and the Legislature to put in place statutory and regulatory enhancements that accelerate construction and give greater certainty on time and schedule for segment delivery.”
The deal came as the project has come under growing scrutiny due to criticism that it is billions of dollars over budget and has gone years past the completion deadline.
Trump pulled federal funding from the project this summer, leading California to sue to get the money back.
“You should try to sell people on your ideas, not make them go, ‘These are black holes where people get rich and projects don’t get built,’” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy previously told the Washington Examiner in an interview defending skepticism about the project.
Voters first approved the California High-Speed Rail System in 2008. The “bullet train,” with cars traveling up to 220 miles per hour, was supposed to be completed by 2020 and cost $33 billion, according to a Federal Railroad Administration report released in June. That cost has risen to $128 billion, according to the FRA.
The project was originally planned for an 800-mile system connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles.
However, construction has stalled due to funding and regulatory delays, leading the state to focus on building a 171-mile stretch underway in the Central Valley between Merced and Bakersfield. That segment is expected to cost up to $36 billion. The FRA report over the summer noted California had not identified $4 billion in additional funding needed to build that segment.
The deal, set to be sealed by legislators on Saturday, plans to finance construction on that piece of the project with $1 billion a year. The Merced-Bakersfield segment is projected to be completed by 2033.
Newsom said ground was broken on the high-speed rail project in January. Roughly $14 billion has been spent on the development, which has created about 15,000 jobs in the Central Valley, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Republicans have taken delight in mocking the situation.
“The High-Speed Rail Authority is now claiming it’s made ‘substantial progress to deliver high-speed rail in California,’” Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) said in July. “In fact, there has not been an inch of track laid in 17 years.”
Many Democrats, who control the governor’s office and state legislature, have stood by the project.
TRUMP SEVERS FUNDING FOR ‘DISASTROUSLY OVERPRICED’ CALIFORNIA HIGH-SPEED RAIL PROJECT
“For too long, critics have tried to write the obituary for high-speed rail,” said Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese, the Senate Transportation Committee chairman. “But we’ve kept pushing, and now we have a long-term commitment that will create jobs, cut pollution, and revitalize communities up and down the state. The Legislature must act quickly to pass this plan and keep California on track to deliver America’s first true high-speed rail.”
California’s difficulties in finding funding for the innovative rail project, which would be the first of its kind in the nation, come as the state has faced growing budget troubles. The Newsom administration said earlier this year that the deficit is roughly $12 billion after the state enjoyed a $97 billion surplus in 2022. The more likely deficit number is about $20 billion, according to Cal Matters.
