‘Obviously In Trouble’: 17 Years Later, California High-Speed Rail Leaders Sound Alarm Over Project Funding

Leaders of California’s high speed-rail project are sounding the alarm on the project’s financial future after nearly 20 years of delays and billions of tax dollars spent, the Los Angeles Times first reported.

After California’s High-Speed Rail Authority board members voted to approve new contracts for the Central Valley station and construction bids for a Fresno station on Thursday, several members raised concerns over the project’s financial commitments and future, the publication reported. The railway, which was supposed to be completed by 2020 and cost $33 billion, was recently projected to reach $106 billion, prompting lawmakers and the Trump administration to place the entire project under a microscope.

“I’m very nervous about receiving the federal funding,” board member James Ghielmetti said. “I want to make sure my fellow board members are aware that if the federal money does not come through, somebody’s got to backstop these contracts.”

Initially pitched as a high-speed rail system linking Los Angeles and San Francisco with a target completion around 2020, the Bakersfield-to-Merced segment isn’t expected to be finished before 2030 at the earliest.

Authority staff noted that the federal contracts contain termination clauses in case of insufficient funding and that contingency funds are available to cover potential shortfalls. Ghielmetti warned that canceling contracts would only further delay the project and emphasized the importance of having those funds in place to stay on track.