High-speed rail leader says project needs to find new funding or costs and timeline will expand

Two weeks after the Trump administration announced a compliance review of California’s high-speed rail project, the head of the rail authority stressed the need for new sources of funding to guarantee the train’s completion.

During a board meeting Thursday, High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri said that the authority will continue to ask for federal dollars while cautioning that the timeline and price could grow if a significant funding gap is not closed.

Choudri said Thursday that he has “come to a conclusion, if we do not stabilize a funding approach on this, the inefficiencies” will continue to pose a risk to schedule and cost.

He said that industry experts have come together to establish a plan and that he will continue to communicate with the governor’s office, the state Department of Finance and the Legislature.

Choudri’s comments come as the project faces new scrutiny that could jeopardize federal funding commitments at a time planners are already trying to find tens of billions of dollars to finish the rail system. The review will focus on a $4-billion promise made under the Biden administration for construction in the Central Valley.

Challenges over the project’s timeline and budget have been acknowledged in previous board meetings by members, transit experts and project leadership. The first portion of the line is expected to open 13 years after the entire project was originally supposed to be done — in 2020 — and the budget is about $100 billion more than the $30 billion initially proposed. Lawmakers and a state-appointed advisory group say private investment will be necessary to finish the project.

Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin), a dogged critic of the rail line, sent a letter Tuesday to FBI Director Kash Patel asking for the agency to investigate the authority. This comes after Kiley previously introduced a bill to defund the project, and asked the Department of Transportation to initiate a probe.

“How is it possible to have spent over $13 billion without a single station opening? Where have these funds gone? Who benefited from that,” he wrote.

The authority said it welcomed the investigation and posted on X that the project has been audited more than 100 times.

“Every dollar is accounted for and progress is real — 50 structures built, 14,600 jobs created and 171 miles under construction.”

More than 80% of the spending has been funded through the state, California High-Speed Rail Authority Board Chair Tom Richards said Tuesday.

Construction on the project has been limited to a stretch in the Central Valley, with a segment from Bakersfield to Merced expected to be completed by 2033. Although the entire route from San Francisco to Los Angeles was environmentally cleared last year for construction, there is no clear timeline for when construction would begin elsewhere.

Richards stressed that the project will affect states beyond California with a goal to establish a southwest corridor that would include Arizona and New Mexico, and reiterated plans to connect to the privately owned Brightline West project, that would connect Southern California to Las Vegas.

“It’s not just simply a California project,” Richards said.