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,” wrote the state-funded Legislative Analyst’s Office. “Other factors could drive growth in the project’s funding gap, including: (1) potential loss of federal funds, such as those that have not yet been obligated; (2) inflation and other construction cost increases; (3) uncertainty related to assumed future [state Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund] revenues.”
The LAO also noted the California High Speed Rail Authority Office of the Inspector General said, “HSRA needs to secure funds to meet most of its identified funding gap before June 2026 to avoid negative impacts on the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment schedule.”
The Trump administration’s Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy cited the new shortfall in a X post highlighting the status of the state’s long-delayed Los Angeles to San Francisco train, which was approved by voters in 2008 at a cost of $33 billion.
Duffy said that of $15 billion spent on the project thus far, $2.5 billion was from federal funding and that $4 billion in “unspent federal money is under review.” He also said, “zero high-speed track” has been laid and that the total cost for the LA-SF line “has soared to over $100B with no expected completion date.”