Biden Administration Awards $6 Billion for High-Speed Rail Projects in California

Funding includes $3 billion for a Las Vegas-LA rail line and $3.1 billion for the controversial California high-speed rail project.

President Biden's administration has awarded $6 billion in federal infrastructure spending to California for two high-speed electric rail routes. One is a failing public-sector effort by the state, and the other is a private rail line from Southern California to Las Vegas.
The $3 billion in funding for the Las Vegas-LA rail line, part of $6 billion previously earmarked for high-speed rail, has come from the Biden administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law as part of its Federal-State Partnership Program.
The high-speed rail project between Las Vegas and Los Angeles is expected to be completed before the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The train service is expected to take passengers from Las Vegas to Rancho Cucamonga, which is 37 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, in just 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The California high-speed rail project, which was supposed to be finished by 2020, and to cost $33 billion, has seen its price balloon to more than $100 billion. The project has been mired in controversy and delays, with only a 119-mile stretch currently under construction.
Despite the controversy surrounding the California high-speed rail project, the Biden administration has awarded it an additional $3.1 billion. This funding will go exclusively towards work on the 119-mile stretch that would connect the cities of Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield.