Particle.news
Download on the App Store
18 ARTICLES
·
3d ago

Trump Administration Pulls Another $175 Million From California High‑Speed Rail

The cut follows a July $4 billion cancellation that California is challenging in court, intensifying pressure to lock in a $1 billion‑a‑year state funding stream.

An aerial image shows construction workers building the Hanford Viaduct over Highway 198 and past agricultural fields as part of the California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) transit project in Hanford, California, on February 12, 2025.
Metrolink commuter rail train at Santa Ana railway station near Los Angeles, United States, November 6, 2022.
Renderings of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s Central Valley Station in Merced.
An Amtrak Surfliner train pulls into the Moorpark Train Station in Moorpark, California, on June 15, 2024.

Overview

  • USDOT said four related efforts will lose funds, including a Madera high‑speed rail station, the Le Grand Overcrossing near Merced, Southern San Jose grade separations, and the San Francisco Downtown Extension final design.
  • Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also directed the Federal Railroad Administration to review all grants already obligated to the program after earlier findings cited serious concerns about the project’s viability.
  • California has sued over the prior $4 billion revocation and officials indicated they could broaden legal action in response to the new withdrawal.
  • State lawmakers are urging a long‑term commitment of $1 billion per year from cap‑and‑trade revenues to keep work moving and attract private partners.
  • Construction remains concentrated in the Central Valley with roughly 119 miles active and no service yet, as new CHSRA scenarios project Merced–Bakersfield operations in 2032–2033 and potential extensions to Gilroy and Palmdale by around 2038 at much higher cost and with an operating shortfall on the initial spine.