U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has withdrawn funding for projects related to the High-Speed Rail project in California.
Duffy said the move would save $175 million that would have otherwise been directed to the project.
“In twenty years, California has not been able to lay a single track of high-speed rail. Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg didn’t care about these failures and dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s wish list of related fantasy projects,” Duffy said. “The waste ends here. As of today, the American people are done investing in California’s failed experiment. Instead, my Department will focus on making travel great again by investing in well-managed projects that can make projects like high-speed rail a reality.”
The FRA said an estimated $15 billion has been spent on the project so far, and the cost of the project, $135 billion, could buy every San Francisco and Los Angeles resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the two cities.
Duffy said he was also directing the FRA to review all obligated grants related to the project. Duffy previously said the FRA had terminated $4 billion in grant funding after a report noted serious issues with the project. This termination cancels four projects totaling $175 million, including the Le Grand Overcrossing Project on the Merced Extension); the Southern San Jose Grade Separations; the DTX Final Design for Track and Rail Systems Project and the Madera High-Speed Rail Station Project.