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Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy Cancels California’s Additional Rail Fantasy Projects

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) withdrew funding for four projects related to California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle. The move will save the American people over $175 million in federal dollars that would have otherwise been wasted to make improvements to this failed high-speed rail project.

“In twenty years, California has not been able to lay a single track of high-speed rail. Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg didn’t care about these failures and dumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the state’s wish list of related fantasy projects,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.  “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.” 

Roughly $15 billion has been spent on California’s High-Speed Rail boondoggle. The $135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and LA resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities.

In addition to cancelling these wasteful projects, Secretary Duffy has directed FRA to review all obligated grants related to the California High-Speed Rail Project.

Additional Information

In July, Secretary Duffy announced that FRA terminated $4 billion in FRA grant funding to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) after an extensive, 315-page report noting serious issues with the project, including that CHSRA would not complete the Merced to Bakersfield line by 2033.

After a careful review of the benefits and risks of unobligated projects related to the California High-Speed Rail Project, and given its current state, FRA has determined that advancing these selections is not justified and will withdraw the following four projects totaling approximately $175 million: 

  • Le Grand Overcrossing Project on the Merced Extension (CHSRA; $89,645,961)  
  • Southern San Jose Grade Separations (Monterey Rd) (City of San Jose; $7,500,000)  
  • DTX Final Design for Track and Rail Systems Project (Transbay Joint Powers Authority; $24,655,000)  
  • Madera High-Speed Rail Station Project (California Department of Transportation; $54,530,000)