California’s high-speed rail project needs another $7 billion dollars by the summer of 2026, KCRA3 reports.
Helen Kerstein with the California Legislative Analyst’s Office told lawmakers during a budget hearing that the project requires another $7 billion. Should the project not receive the funding, it will be further delayed.
“There is no specific plan to meet that roughly $7 billion gap, we also think there is some risk that gap could grow,” Kerstein said. “This isn’t a way out in the future funding gap. This is a pretty immediate funding gap.”
Democrat Assemblyman Steven Bennett said of the matter, “We have no plan, we have a good likelihood it’s going to get worse, and we have a short time to solve the problem. That’s not a good place for government to put itself into.”
President Donald Trump has criticized the high-speed rail as the “worst-managed project” he has ever seen. His administration subsequently launched a review to potentially rescind approximately $4 billion in federal grants allocated to California’s high-speed rail project.
The entire project was initially estimated to cost $40 billion but has grown to an estimated $128 billion since it began in 2008. According to the DOT, the Merced-to-Bakersfield portion of the rail, which is only 164 miles of the 800-mile long project, is projected to cost more than the original budget of $33 billion.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) introduced a bill in January that would eliminate federal funding for the high-speed rail. The bill would “prohibit the use of Federal financial assistance for a certain high-speed rail development project in the State of California, and for other purposes.”
