[Source/Observer Network, Ruan Jiaqi]

According to reports by The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post on April 4, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized in a statement that over the past 15 years, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) has spent nearly $7 billion of taxpayer funds but has not laid "even one foot" of track.

He threatened that the California High-Speed Rail Office must respond by July 11 or the Trump administration will cancel approximately $4 billion in additional federal funding.

The report stated that in February this year, Duffy initiated a compliance review of the California High-Speed Rail project's funds, finding that the California High-Speed Rail Authority "has no other reliable plan to fill the funding gap except seeking more additional federal funds."

In a 310-page report from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Duffy detailed the delays and budget overruns of this long-term project, accusing the state of poor management with minimal progress in construction projects.

The report pointed out that "so far, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has not laid any tracks and has not begun constructing the signaling system required for train operations" and "to obtain large amounts of federal funds, the California High-Speed Rail Authority once promised that high-speed rail would connect major cities in California, but now can only deliver a significantly reduced and severely delayed system that may only connect two random endpoints"...

The report also stated that at the current construction speed, the California High-Speed Rail Authority "will never be able to complete this project." Duffy stated in his statement, "This report reveals a cruel fact: the California High-Speed Rail Authority has neither a feasible plan to complete the project on time nor the ability to control the budget."

Duffy emphasized that the California High-Speed Rail Authority has been informed that if it cannot fulfill its agreement, federal funding will quickly flow to other projects "to realize Trump's vision of rebuilding grand engineering."

He criticized, "Our country should have high-speed rail systems we can be proud of, not broken railways leading nowhere."

A spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority said that the department firmly opposed the FRA's report, pointing out that its conclusions were misleading and did not reflect the substantive progress made in advancing high-speed rail construction.

The statement said, "Although maintaining cooperation with the federal government remains crucial for this high-speed rail project, the project's funds mainly come from the state. Therefore, the governor's budget proposal submitted to the legislature plans to allocate at least $1 billion annually over the next 20 years to provide necessary resources for completing the first operational segment of the project."

"We remain firmly committed to completing the first true high-speed rail system in the United States, connecting major population centers in California," the spokesperson said.

In January 2019, Sean Duffy and Trump attended a tariff meeting at the White House. AFP

For the already fate-plagued California railway project, these disputes undoubtedly bring more uncertainty to the advancement of the project. As a "difficult issue" in the U.S. infrastructure sector, the history of this high-speed rail project can be traced back to 2008.

The U.S. government has long planned a high-speed rail project connecting the two major cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, about 800 miles (approximately 1287 kilometers), with a maximum design speed of 350 kilometers per hour (220 miles per hour).

In 2008, under the tenure of former Governor Schwarzenegger, this high-speed rail project officially commenced. Californian voters had approved using $10 billion in bond proceeds as construction funds. In 2010, the then Obama administration allocated $3.5 billion to California, which was not distributed all at once.

In 2015, the first phase of the project began construction. However, in February 2019, newly appointed California Governor Newsom announced that due to cost increases to $77.3 billion, delays in schedule, and concerns over management, the high-speed rail project would be shortened to a 171-mile (approximately 275-kilometer) section between Merced and Bakersfield in Central Valley.

California High-Speed Rail Project map. Note: the red box shows the major cities originally planned to be connected, while the green circle indicates the short section remaining after Governor Newsom cut the project. Los Angeles Times map.

Upon hearing the news, former President Trump described the project as a "green disaster" and a "world-class failure," and his administration announced in May the same year that it would officially cancel $929 million in federal grants provided to the California High-Speed Rail project and continue considering reclaiming the $2.5 billion already disbursed.

Newsom, who had a deep grudge against him, immediately responded, refusing to "return the money," and sarcastically commented that Trump was "desperately" searching for funds for his "border wall" construction plan. Since then, the two have been constantly arguing over the high-speed rail project.

Until 2021, when Democratic President Biden took office, the nearly $1 billion grant for the California High-Speed Rail project was restored. Based on the infrastructure bill released by the Biden administration, the California High-Speed Rail Authority applied for another $8 billion in grants.

However, after the first installment of funds arrived, the California High-Speed Rail Authority encountered a series of procurement issues, leading to wasted funds and a skyrocketing cost of building the high-speed rail to $128 billion, with the project being judged as "virtually impossible to complete before 2033."

During the 2024 U.S. presidential election campaign, the California high-speed rail project made a big show: after spending three years and $1 billion, the California High-Speed Rail Authority finally built a 1600-foot-long (approximately 488-meter) elevated bridge over the Fresno River, standing 25 feet (approximately 7.6 meters) above ground level. However, since its completion in 2018, it has stood alone on the often-dry Fresno River, waiting in vain for the "first American high-speed rail system" project to reach both ends...

The aerial view of this elevated bridge sparked widespread ridicule in the U.S. Billy Markus, founder of the cryptocurrency "Dogecoin," sarcastically called it "the greatest achievement in human history," bluntly stating that "California is really something." Even Elon Musk, who hadn't yet fallen out with Trump, joined in the criticism, retweeting the content with a sad face emoji.

Fresno River Elevated Bridge

As Trump won re-election and returned to the White House, the bipartisan wrangling over the California high-speed rail project quickly resumed.

In February this year, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration stated that under the direction of U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy, an audit of the California High-Speed Rail project has been initiated to determine the use of funds for the Central Valley section construction.

The U.S. Department of Transportation stated that this high-speed rail project from San Francisco to Los Angeles was initially planned to be completed in 2020, with a budget of $33 billion. However, the cost of just the Merced to Bakersfield section has already exceeded the original total cost. The department also cited a report indicating that there is at least a $6.5 billion funding gap for just this section.

On May 6 local time, Trump stated at the White House that his administration will not pay for the high-speed rail plan between Los Angeles and San Francisco due to cost overruns. He said, "The government will not pay for it."

A spokesperson for Newsom responded by playing the "China card." He claimed, "50 main structural components have been built, and abandoning the project at this stage as we enter the track-laying phase would be reckless—not only wasting the billions already invested but also allowing the forces that kill jobs to hand over this generation's infrastructure advantage to China."

The California High-Speed Rail Authority also claimed that the project "is making substantial progress." Full-scale civil engineering construction is underway along the 119-mile (approximately 191-kilometer) route in Central Valley, creating more than 15,000 construction jobs. Design and preliminary construction work is also progressing on the extension sections between Merced and Bakersfield.

However, under multiple blows from uncertainties in federal funding, out-of-control costs, and public trust crises, whether this "American high-speed rail dream" can be realized remains uncertain. As The New York Times put it, the California High-Speed Rail project has become a classic case of how "political compromises derail technical visions."

This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7512405182748344844/

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