House GOP Transportation Leaders Probe California High-Speed Rail Project, Cite Critical Issues
U.S.House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) and U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-TX) are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to turn over documents and information regarding the Biden administration’s decision to waste billions in taxpayer money on the failed California High-Speed Rail project.
And while California High-Speed Rail was intended to cost California taxpayers a total of $33 billion and be completed four years ago, not a single segment of the system has been completed to date. This is all the while the total estimated cost has ballooned to $128 billion, continuing to count upwards, and there is no expected date of completion.
In a letter to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Rep. Graves and Sen. Cruz highlighted that the high-speed rail project has far exceeded its proposed budget despite the fact that it is nowhere close to being finished.
“Voters were promised that the California High-Speed Rail project would cost the state $33 billion and be completed by 2020. Fifteen years later, the California High-Speed Rail project has become one of the most troubled ‘megaprojects’ in the nation.
“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. 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.”
According to Sierra Sun Times, As the letter points out, California is now seeking substantial federal subsidies as the project far exceeds the state’s ability to finance it. Even the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, an independent group of California passenger rail experts, has called into question whether the project is even possible given the roughly $100 billion gap between estimated costs and known funding.
Given the fact that there is no reasonable path forward for successful completion of the California High-Speed Rail project, Rep. Graves and Sen. Cruz questioned the Biden administration’s decision to award the project billions of dollars in federal taxpayer funds—funding that could have been spent on more cost-effective and successful projects.
