Federal Railroad Admin Tells CA: Return $3.5B for Failed Bullet Train

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state was rethinking the state’s high-speed rail project from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the Federal Railroad Administration announced it was canceling $929 million in federal grants for the project. Moreover, it also announced that it was “actively exploring every legal option to seek the return from California of $2.5 billion in federal funds” related to the project.

Federal officials said California had “failed to make reasonable progress” on the project and questioned whether it could be completed on schedule as outlined in the grants. Voters approved the $77-billion project 10 years ago, and as of today, it’s 13 years behind schedule and $44 billion over budget.

During Newsom’s recent State of the State address, he promised the project would eventually be completed, but insisted that changes were needed. “The current project, as planned, would cost too much and, respectfully, take too long,” he said. “There’s been too little oversight and not enough transparency.”

The statement from the Federal Railroad Administration referred to California’s high-speed rail as the “now-defunct project.”

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