U.S. Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) are urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide them with information about a failed high-speed rail project in California.
Graves, chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, requested the information in a letter this month. The letter asks for documents and information regarding the decision to waste billions in taxpayer money on the failed project. The California High-Speed Rail project was intended to cost California taxpayers $33 billion and be completed by 2020. But since then, none of it has been completed. The cost estimate to complete it has risen to $128 billion with no expected completion date.
“The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) still has not completed a single segment of the system, the total estimated cost has ballooned to $128 billion and counting, and there is no expected completion date,” the lawmakers wrote. “CHSRA has recently focused its efforts on completing a 171-mile segment between Merced and Bakersfield. This segment alone will cost more than $35 billion to serve about two million riders annually.”
The legislators said the project continues to get funding though.
“Despite evidence that continues to show that the California High Speed Rail project has critical issues indicating there is no reasonable path forward for successful completion of the project… the Biden administration continues to allocate substantial federal taxpayer dollars on this highly questionable endeavor,” they wrote.
The Congressmen asked that the DOT schedule an in-person briefing with committee staff and turn over documents and information related to the project no later than June 12, 2024.