Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the federal government will subject California to a compliance review to determine how federal assistance has been used on the state’s long-delayed high-speed rail project.
Duffy and lawmakers from California held a press conference on Thursday highlighting the ballooning price of the rail plan, which was first announced in 2008 at a cost of roughly $33 billion, advertising a completion date in 2020. Today, however, the plan has cost over $15.7 billion and remains unfinished, with projected costs at over $128 billion.
“Who got the cash? Where did it go?” Duffy said. “$16 billion is a lot of money. It’s going to be a hard stretch to see how that money was spent.”
Duffy noted that the federal government has spent over $2 billion on the project, and the review will determine whether federal assistance will continue.
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Lawmakers attending the press conference were more aggressive in condemning the rail project, calling it a “boondogle” and a “mismanaged nightmare.”
Duffy called on California residents to demand answers from Gov. Gavin Newsom, saying the Department of Transportation would be open to investing in a properly budgeted high-speed rail project with a definitive timeline.
Duffy’s press conference comes amid scrutiny of the U.S. aviation industry. There have been five major aviation disasters in the past month, most notably a collision over Washington, D.C., that killed more than 60 people.
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A Delta flight in Toronto also flipped upside down during landing last week, an incident which miraculously left all passengers alive.
Duffy fielded questions from reporters on Thursday regarding recent firings from the Federal Aviation Administration. He emphasized that the firings did not affect the organization’s most highly skilled workers.
The Trump administration has promised a thorough review and update of air traffic control systems nationwide after a midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight that was about to land at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29 killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft. It was the United States’ deadliest aviation disaster since 2001.
