Trump Cancels California ‘High Speed Rail Train to Nowhere’

MARY CHASTAIN JUL 17, 2025 7:00 AM

President Donald Trump and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy canceled the $4 billion funding meant for California’s high-speed rail train.

From what I can tell, Leslie has been chronicling the stupid train at Legal Insurrection for over ten years!

Leslie published her first post on it in 2013.

The plan started 16 years ago. California has spent $15 billion but never built one high-speed track.

Duffy’s press release noted that the “$135 billion projected total cost of the project could buy every San Francisco and LA resident nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities.”

Trump wrote on Truth Social:

To the Law abiding, Tax paying, Hardworking Citizens of the United States of America, I am thrilled to announce that I have officially freed you from funding California’s disastrously overpriced, “HIGH SPEED TRAIN TO NOWHERE.” This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of California, Gavin Newscum, has cost Taxpayers Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we have received NOTHING in return except Cost Overruns. The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will. This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED. Thanks to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, not a SINGLE penny in Federal Dollars will go towards this Newscum SCAM ever again. This was an ill-conceived and unnecessary project, and a total waste of Taxpayer money — But no more!

Duffy started an investigation into the train in February, reviewing two grants:

• $929 million Cooperative Agreement from 2010
• $3.07 billion Cooperative Agreement from last year

In June, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) told the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) that the review “identified a trail of project delays, mismanagement, waste, and skyrocketing costs.”

“This is California’s fault. Governor Newsom and the complicit Democrats have enabled this waste for years. Federal dollars are not a blank check – they come with a promise to deliver results. After over a decade of failures, CHSRA’s mismanagement and incompetence has proven it cannot build its train to nowhere on time or on budget,” declared Duffy. “It’s time for this boondoggle to die. President Trump and I will always fight to ensure your tax dollars only go to projects that accomplish great, big, beautiful things.”

The 310-page report detailed nine key findings:

• CHSRA has executed numerous change orders and will likely have many more change orders in the near future to account for contractor expenses as a result of project delays.
• CHSRA has already missed its deadline for finalizing its rolling stock procurement.
• CHSRA has at least a $7 billion funding gap to complete the EOS, with no credible plan to secure additional funds.
• CHSRA does not have a viable path to complete the EOS by 2033 per its commitment in the FY10 Agreement and the FSP Agreement.
• CHSRA relies on volatile non-federal funding sources, which present significant project risk.
• CHSRA lacks time and money to electrify the EOS by 2033.
• CHSRA’s budget contingency is inadequate to cover anticipated contractor delay claims.
• CHSRA has overrepresented its ridership projections for the EOS substantially.
• CHSRA lacks the capacity to deliver the EOS by 2033.

[Featured image via YouTube]

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