Austin News

May 29, 2024

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Commerce Committee Ranking Member Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-Mo.) have requested the Department of Transportation (DOT) to provide documents and information regarding the Biden administration’s allocation of funds to the California High-Speed Rail project.

The California High-Speed Rail was initially projected to cost $33 billion and be completed four years ago. However, no segment has been finished, and the estimated cost has escalated to $128 billion with no completion date in sight.

In a letter addressed to DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cruz and Rep. Graves emphasized that the project has significantly exceeded its budget without nearing completion.

“Voters were promised that the California High-Speed Rail project would cost the state $33 billion and be completed by 2020. Fifteen years later, the California High-Speed Rail project has become one of the most troubled ‘megaprojects’ in the nation,” they wrote.

The letter also notes that California is seeking substantial federal subsidies due to its inability to finance the project independently. The California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group has expressed doubts about the project's feasibility given a roughly $100 billion gap between estimated costs and known funding.

“In March 2023, the CHSRA Peer Review Group...reported an astounding ‘unfunded gap of $92.6 billion to $103.1 billion between estimated costs and known State and Federal funding’ for the full San Francisco-to-San Diego system,” it stated.

Sen. Cruz and Rep. Graves questioned why billions in federal taxpayer funds were allocated to this project despite significant issues indicating no reasonable path forward for its successful completion.

“Despite evidence that continues to show that the California High Speed Rail project has critical issues indicating there is no reasonable path forward for successful completion of the project...the Biden administration continues to allocate substantial federal taxpayer dollars on this highly questionable endeavor.”

The letter concludes by requesting an in-person briefing with Committee staff and submission of relevant documents related to the project by June 12, 2024.