The Trump administration canceled its agreement with California to fund the state’s failed bullet train project, according to a letter from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) released Thursday.
FRA Administrator Ron Batory announced FRA would de-obligate the $928.6 million previously set aside for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) by the Obama administration in 2010, citing CHRSA had “repeatedly failed to comply with the terms of the FY10 Agreement and has failed to make reasonable progress on the Project.”
Earlier this year, California Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state would be pulling the plug on its plan to build a bullet train connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco after cost estimates had ballooned to roughly $98 billion. The project received roughly $3.5 billion in Obama “stimulus” spending for “shovel ready” projects. After California spent 11 years and billions of taxpayer dollars, the bullet train project has yet to deliver a single passenger.
Grover Norquist, President of Americans for Tax Reform, issued the following statement in support of President Trump’s decision:
President Trump protected all American taxpayers when he stopped a planned billion dollar giveaway to the failed California “bullet train.” Trump put a stop to the oldest big spending trick in the book—California was hoping its dramatic, expensive failure would be an argument for “more spending.” California’s failed bullet train is not an argument for throwing more money at failure. Thank you President Trump for stopping this madness and saving us all from wasting another billion dollars.
Americans for Tax Reform applauds President Trump for recovering nearly $930 million of taxpayer money from California’s train to nowhere. As Democrats continue to push the Green New Deal and advocate for “high-speed rail at a scale where air travel stops becoming necessary,” taxpayers should remember the lesson of California’s failed bullet train.