President Donald Trump on Wednesday officially revoked $4 billion in federal funding from California’s long-delayed high-speed rail initiative, often mocked by critics as the “train to nowhere.”
The controversial project—originally intended to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles in under three hours—has faced years of setbacks, including soaring costs, engineering challenges, environmental reviews, and declining political support.
A Timeline of the Bullet Train’s Unraveling:
- 2008: California voters approve Proposition 1A, greenlighting $10 billion in bonds for a $33 billion bullet train linking San Francisco and Los Angeles by 2020.
- 2009–2010: The Obama administration allocates over $2 billion in federal stimulus funds; then-Gov. Jerry Brown promotes the rail as a climate solution.
- 2014–2015: Project delays and cost overruns pile up. By 2015, estimates hit $68 billion. Brown presses ahead, despite criticism.
- 2019: Gov. Gavin Newsom scales back the project, canceling most of the route. Trump announces plans to reclaim federal funds already spent and halts nearly $1 billion in new grants.
- 2021–2023: President Biden restores federal support, sending $1 billion, followed by another $6 billion, including for a separate bullet train connecting L.A. to Las Vegas.
- 2024: California High-Speed Rail Authority announces it needs another $100 billion—bringing the total projected cost to $128 billion—to complete the full plan.
- 2025: Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy conducts a full audit and declares there’s “no viable way forward” for the original rail plan. He notes $15 billion has already been spent, with no high-speed track laid.
In a statement, Secretary Duffy said the federal government would begin reviewing all related grants. He added:
“The $135 billion projected cost could buy every resident of San Francisco and Los Angeles nearly 200 roundtrip flights between the cities.”
Trump’s funding withdrawal marks the final blow to what was once billed as a model of sustainable transportation.
