The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has canceled $4 billion in federal funding for a high-speed bullet train project in California.
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Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has formally terminated the funding that was to go to the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) as the bullet train project was to get underway. In a termination letter, Duffy wrote that the funding was being pulled because the rail authority has “breached the commitments” it made in its original agreements and shown an “inability to complete” its set goals.
“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,” wrote Duffy. “It’s time for this boondoggle to die.” In a social media post, California Governor Gavin Newsom said the state will be “exploring all options to fight this illegal action.”
Bashing California
The bullet train project is the latest flashpoint in an ongoing battle that President Trump has waged on California, which is the most populous Democratic state in the U.S. In recent months, President Trump has also deployed military personnel to California to quash political protests against his policies.
In his own social media post after the high-speed rail funding was pulled, President Trump called Governor Newsom “incompetent,” adding, “The Railroad we were promised still does not exist, and never will… This project was Severely Overpriced, Overregulated, and NEVER DELIVERED.”
California’s high-speed rail efforts began in 2009 with the goal of building a train that could travel between Los Angeles and San Francisco in under three hours. Newsom trimmed that vision a decade later, setting out to connect a 170-mile stretch of land between Merced and Bakersfield. The current project is expected to cost around $22 billion.
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