Trump’s DOT Threatens to Pull Funding for California’s High-Speed Rail

California’s high -speed train project, approved for the first time in 2008, has struck many roadblocks in its development process, and now it can look at the end of the road. The Trump Administration Ministry of Transport has published this week a report that does not paint a nice image of the project, and the chief of dowry Sean Duffy gave California just over a month to respond to concerns or have faced with $ 4 billion in government funded, canceled, According to Reuters.

The threat of cutting California follows a 315 -page report published by the Federal Railroad Administration which claims that California has missed several deadlines related to high -speed rail and did not identify how it will obtain $ 7 billion in funding to build a rail segment between Merced and Bakersfield, California, of which it is must secure by next summer For the project to advance. The report concludes, in a completely Trumpian language, that California “made the boost on its investment of $ 4 billion, without viable plan to deliver even this partial segment in time”.

The Ministry of Transport gave California until mid-July to respond to the report, threatening to terminate federal contracts if it does not respond enough to the concerns raised in the report. California High-Speed ​​Rail Authority described the report as “erroneous”, According to a report by Los Angeles TimesAnd said he will soon make an official response. “We remain firmly determined to complete the first real real rail system in the country connecting the main population centers of the State,” said a spokesperson for the agency.

Trump has been on California’s ass about the railway project since his return to functions. His administration launched a review still to be completed From a federal subsidy of $ 3.1 billion to help finance construction in February, and last month he distinguished the project during a joint appearance with Prime Minister Mark Carney of Canada, declaring: “This train is the worst cost that I have ever seen” and “this government will not pay”.

Control of Trump and the Company is not exactly a surprise for those involved in the construction of high -speed rail, as Officials reported earlier this year that there can be deficits of funding from the federal government on the horizon. And although many people are frustrated by the duration of the duration of California Rail Project to meet and how much it costs, the federal government is really not the catchy for this large part. By the TimesCalifornia paid 82% of the project, based on federal subsidies for only 18% of funding.

While California’s high -speed rail has had many problems – mainly inflicted by politics – the “Train to Nowhere” label that it is often struck, no longer corresponds to the image on the ground. More than 119 miles of rail were deposited between Merced and Bakersfield, and the project is Closely that abandonment at this stage would be more wasted than finishing it, in particular with the communities along the course expect a potential economic boom Once it is operational. But good luck telling Trump (and Elon Musk who opposed it from the start).