The House Oversight Committee launched an investigation into California’s high-speed rail project earlier this week, probing whether cost and ridership estimates were “misrepresented” in order to secure federal and state funding.
Oversight Chair Rep. James Comer, a Kentucky Republican, requested documents and communications, as well as a “staff-level briefing” from the U.S. Department of Transportation by Sept. 2, related to the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Comer, in his letter to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, said the request is “to better understand the allocation of taxpayer dollars.”
“As part of our investigation, we are seeking to understand whether the Authority knowingly misrepresented the ridership projections and the associated financial viability of the California High-Speed Rail Project to secure federal and state funds,” Comer said in a statement.
“The Authority’s apparent repeated use of misleading ridership projections, despite longstanding warnings from experts, raises serious questions about whether funds were allocated under false pretenses,” Comer said. “The massive cost overruns and lack of progress warrant a reassessment of whether CHSRA acted with transparency and complied with the law.”
The letter to Duffy — who has been critical of the high-speed rail project himself — asked for documents and communications from the High-Speed Rail Authority and “any other California entity or third party” to the Transportation Department “to solicit or procure state and federal taxpayer funds” for the project.
It also asked for documents from the Transportation Department “analyzing the development and sustained viability of the project,” related to acquisition of property, contracts, environmental reviews and ridership projections.
A spokesperson for the rail authority pushed back on the accusations raised in Comer’s announcement of the accusation, calling it “another baseless attempt to manufacture controversy around America’s largest and most complex infrastructure project.”
“The Authority has already addressed these recycled criticisms in its response to the (Federal Railroad Administration’s) compliance review supported by facts, noting the ridership critiques are ‘nonsensical,’ ‘cherrypicked and out-of-date, and therefore misleading,’” the spokesperson said.
Voters first authorized $10 billion in borrowed funds in 2008 to cover about a third of the estimated cost, with a promise that the train would be up and running by 2020, connecting Los Angeles, the Central Valley, San Francisco and other communities. Five years beyond that deadline, no permanent tracks have been laid, and its estimated price tag has ballooned to over $100 billion.
A 2025 “project update” report from the rail authority shows a stretch of the planned route from Madera through mid-way between Kings and Bakersfield is “under construction.” A smaller segment outside of Bakersfield is considered “substantially complete,” according to the report.
The report says the project has created nearly 14,800 construction jobs and touted “many new efforts underway to get to building faster and laying tracks sooner — which ultimately brings the major population centers closer together sooner.”
But a report released Friday by the authority found that the project’s Central Valley segment, the only portion under construction at the moment, is not likely to be profitable when it’s up and running, possibly as early as 2032. Revenue is only expected to cover between 45% to 74% of operating costs, the Mercury News reported.
The Trump administration last month pulled about $4 billion in unspent federal money for the project, which has long been criticized by President Donald Trump and Republicans over its mounting price tag and slow construction.
The decision to pull the federal funding came after a scathing federal report found there was “no viable path” to complete even a partial section of the long-delayed project.
Duffy, then, said he directed the Federal Railroad Administration to review other grants related to the high-speed rail project. He said the Transportation Department, in consultation with the Department of Justice, will consider other moves, “including potentially clawing back funding related to” the project.
Then, state Sen. Dave Cortese, who chairs the Senate Transportation Committee, said the federal funding loss won’t “derail this project,” maintaining it has enough support from state funding.
He’s planned a press conference for Monday, Aug. 25, with other lawmakers, construction trade workers and labor leaders for updates about the project.
Rep. Robert Garcia, the Long Beach Democrat who was recently sworn in as the ranking member on the Oversight Committee, is copied on Comer’s letter to Duffy.
Representatives for Garcia did not respond to requests for comment on Friday.