‘Frankenrail’ bill would ban federal funds for California’s high-speed train

California Republican Rep. Mike Garcia last week unveiled a bill that would block federal funds for the state’s controversial high-speed rail project.

“After 15 years and billions of your hard-earned tax dollars spent, California’s high-speed rail has delivered zero results,” said Garcia in a statement announcing H.R. 9308, the No Frankenrail Act. “This so-called high-speed rail hasn’t produced any rail, and it’s certainly not moving at any speed. This isn’t just fiscal irresponsibility, it’s a betrayal of the trust Californians have placed in their government.”

Republicans have repeatedly criticized the California project, which was initially funded in 2008 with $9.9 billion bond issue to help fund what was then envisioned as a $33 billion system between San Francisco and San Diego.

The total cost of the nation’s only publicly-funded high-speed rail project is now estimated at $128 billion, and faces major funding gaps. The full route’s shortfall is as high as $99 billion, and the initial Merced to Bakersfield segment, with an estimated $35 billion price tag, faces a potential $7 billion gap, according to the watchdog California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group.

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In late May, Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, top Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, launched an investigation into the Biden administration’s allocation of money to the project.

The administration so far has awarded the rail line $3.3 billion in federal grants, including $3.1 billion from the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Program. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has repeatedly defended the project before Congress and said he envisions it as part of a national high-speed system across America, which falls far behind the rest of the world on the technology.

The California High Speed Rail Authority has a goal of winning $8 billion in federal grants for the 171-mile Central Valley segment for the initial Central Valley segment. If it reaches its target, the federal share of that phase would increase to between 35% and 37%, the authority said. In May, the authority applied for a $450 million Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements, or CRISI, grant from the Federal Railroad Administration.

Separately, the authority named a new CEO last week. Ian Choudri comes from infrastructure design firm HNTB Corporation, where he was senior vice president and served as a national strategic advisor to several rail, transit and transportation agencies, including the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority. He has more than 30 years experience in the transportation sector and has also worked on high-speed rail in France and Spain, the authority said in a release. He replaces Brian Kelly, who had overseen the project for six years and announced his retirement in January.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom praised the hire. “He’s taking control at an important moment for this project,” Newsom said. “This is about transforming ground transportation for the world’s fifth largest economy, while showing the nation what is possible with enough vision and will, and bringing a cleaner transportation future to California.”

Also last week, Newsom, Choudri and others celebrated Caltrain’s new electrified train fleet that converts the Caltrain corridor between San Francisco and San Jose from diesel to an electric service. The new electric trains will reduce travel times and prepare the corridor to accommodate the high-speed train in the future. Construction began in July 2017. Full passenger service is set to begin next month.