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Posted on 06/04/2025 2:51:53 PM PDT by Navy Patriot
It could be the end of the line for the "train to nowhere."
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has released a scathing report exposing what he said is the unfeasibility of California's long-troubled high-speed rail project — and is threatening to pull the plug on a plan that already has the federal government on the hook for $6.9 billion while Californians are underwriting an additional $9 billion.
Duffy said that the federal government is moving to terminate around $4 billion it has currently obligated to the project unless the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) can prove it is tenable.
He blasted it as a "boondoggle," as zero miles of high-speed track have been laid since ground was broken 10 years ago, and the cost continues to balloon.
The 300-page report, released by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on Wednesday, examined the project and found delays, missed deadlines, mismanagement, waste, skyrocketing costs, budget shortfalls and overrepresentation of projected ridership.
The report states that despite the money already plowed into the project, there is a $7 billion funding gap to complete a subset of the first phase in the Central Valley from Merced to Bakersfield, known as the Early Operating Segment (EOS).
"This report exposes a cold, hard truth: CHSRA has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget," Duffy said Wednesday. "CHSRA is on notice — If they can’t deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects that can achieve President Trump’s vision of building great, big, beautiful things again.
"Our country deserves high-speed rail that makes us proud — not boondoggle trains to nowhere."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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a mercy-killing.
“Boondoggle” is a nice way to describe a nice big petty cash fund for CA Dem politicians and their donors. No way should that ever have gotten Federal money.
Nonetheless, California High Speed Rail is Fabulous!
At The Proposal stage of the high-speed rail project, 15 minutes of thought would have revealed the near impossibility of completing such a project, not to mention the quintupling of cost that was certain to occur. I have to suppose that is a feature, not a bug.
Can it and demand a refund from the State!!!!!! Not one more friggin’ penny!!!
Duffy, raised in My tiny hometown in Wisconsin (less than 1,500 residents) is doing the right thing.
He has “skin in the game” (eight children).
LOL...$9B +$7B = $16B which is about 10% of what the damn thing will ultimately cost. And there will be near zero ridership.
There are an average of 250 flights every single day between the San Francisco Bay Area and the greater Los Angeles area. It varies from 200 to 300 daily flights. Time in the air is under one hour; 90 minutes gate-to-gate.
The official train trip time is 2 hours 40 minutes which is preposterous. In reality, it will be 3h 30m to 4 h.
Who the hell needs a train?
“it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects”
Like having the government build EV chargers? Or the government bringing internet to rural areas? Both are colossal flops, just like CA HSR.
Who the hell needs a train?
It is a serious question why other countries can do civil engineering projects while ours cannot.
a huge scandal from the beginning
it is amazing how long it has taken to pull the cord on this one
It worked perfectly.
The entire San Francisco - San Jose line entered service in 1864. They built four tunnels, 75 bridges, 37 switches, 33 culverts, seven water tanks, and two turntables using all manual and animal power. It cost $170 million in 2025 dollars.
Today, to retrofit just ONE underpass for those same tracks is estimated at $600 million to $700 million in Burlingame, CA. That’s FOUR times what it cost to build the entire system in 1864.
Fifteen minutes of Critical Thought, not allowed in Calipornia.
Yes.
It’s about time!
The Big Dig’s record is safe.
THE UGLY HIDDEN PRICE OF ALL OF THIS IS THE VALUE OF “EASEMENTS THAT WERE DEMANDED FOR THE RAIL == ACRES & ACRES OF VALUABLE CENTRAL CALIF FARMLAND.
NOW DORMANT, HURTING LONG TIME FARMERS.....
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