Trump administration pulls additional $175 million from California high-speed rail project

Trump administration pulls additional 5 million from California high-speed rail project


NASA administrator Sean Duffy visits the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Control Building at the Kennedy Space Center for Space Launch Complex 39A before the NASA and SpaceX Launch Crew-11 mission to the International Space Station on July 31, 2025 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo | Getty Images

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy pulled $175 million from California’s high-speed rail project on Tuesday, just a month after canceling $4 billion in federal grants.

Duffy cited four projects related to the broader California high-speed rail initiative that would lose funding, including track extensions, grade separations, design work and the construction of a rail station in Madera. Duffy said the full project has thus far incurred $15 billion in costs, calling it a “boondoggle.”

“In twenty years, California has not been able to lay a single track of high-speed rail,” Duffy said in a statement. “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.” 

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.

Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images

The California High-Speed Rail Authority did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.

Duffy also directed the Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday to review all obligated grants for the project.

In July, the administration canceled all of the railroad group’s federal funding following an FRA report that found “serious concerns” with the project’s viability, including an alleged inability to complete the project by its deadline and claims of breached terms of its contract.

California filed to sue the Department of Transportation in July for its “illegal” action. In an op-ed in The Sacramento Bee, Duffy replied by writing that California Gov. Gavin Newsom “has no clue what functional government looks like.”

The project was originally envisioned after a state ballot measure passed in 2008 with the goal of connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours, but it was later cut down to serve a shorter 170-mile stretch between Merced and Bakersfield.

According to the FRA, the current iteration of the plan was projected to cost around $22 billion with an estimated end date of 2033.

The railroad system previously told CNBC that most of its funding is provided by the state, not the government.



Source

Hurricane Melissa set to trigger 0 million Jamaica catastrophe bond to help rebuild
Business

Hurricane Melissa set to trigger $150 million Jamaica catastrophe bond to help rebuild

Drone view of damage to coastal homes after Hurricane Melissa made landfall, in Alligator Pond, Jamaica, Oct. 29, 2025. Maria Alejandra Cardona | Reuters Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful Atlantic hurricane of the year, made landfall this week as a Category 5 storm in Jamaica. The strength of the storm means it will likely trigger […]

Read More
Mortgage rates jump 20 basis points following Fed cut
Business

Mortgage rates jump 20 basis points following Fed cut

An aerial view of homes in a neighborhood on Aug.27, 2025 in San Francisco, California. Justin Sullivan | Getty Images While the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate this week, mortgage rates responded by doing just the opposite. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has jumped 20 basis points since Chairman Jerome […]

Read More
A ‘war room’ mentality: How auto giants are battling the Nexperia chip crunch
Business

A ‘war room’ mentality: How auto giants are battling the Nexperia chip crunch

A Honda sedan moves down the assembly line on Jan. 28, 2025 at the automaker’s assembly plant in Marysville, Ohio.  Michael Wayland / CNBC Global automakers are once again bracing for production disruptions due to a potential shortage of automotive semiconductor chips, this time sparked by the Dutch government amid geopolitical tensions between the U.S. […]

Read More