The Transportation Secretary warned California rail officials that they had 30 days to propose a new plan or risk losing $4 billion in federal funding amid years of delays and mismanagement. This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The Transportation Secretary warned California rail officials that they had 30 days to propose a new plan or risk losing $4 billion in federal funding amid years of delays and mismanagement.
Photo: State of California

Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Drew Feeley cautioned that the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) had missed deadlines and overrun budgets. The already long-delayed project, which was originally intended to connect San Francisco and Los Angeles, now faces drastic reductions.

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Feeley slammedOUT the agency’s failure to meet new goals. What started out as an 800-mile network dwindled to 500 miles, then 171 and now only 119 miles. That incomplete length may be the only section that has survived.

Transportation Secretary Questions Project’s Credibility

The federal review was supported by the Transportation Secretary and found chronic overspending and execution failures. Even with a reduction in scope, CHSRA still fails to meet target dates and balloons in cost.

“Taxpayers have already put in $4 billion,” Feeley said. “But the rail authority doesn’t have a workable plan to complete even the sort of phase we have today.”
Secretary Duffy echoed those concerns. She derided the project as a “boondoggle” and called for greater oversight, emphasizing that rail infrastructure should create opportunities rather than make promises.

Recovery Plan Must Be Credible, Says Transport Secretary

CHSRA apparently has never learned from its early failures, the review stated. Management problems are rampant, and cost overruns are spiraling out of control. That progress is unlikely to continue without reforms.

Should CHSRA not prepare a credible action plan by the deadline, the federal government will rescind the grant and redirect the funding to rail projects in other states that are prepared to utilize it to the highest benefit.

The Secretary of Transportation was explicit that the administration is pro-high-speed rail, but that this would only be the case if the high-speed rail project in question meets certain benchmarks with relation to efficiency, transparency, and timeliness.

Source: www.presidentialprayerteam.org

How is California threatened by a loss of $4 billion in federal aid?

The Transportation Secretary said that after years of delays, cost overruns and the failure of California’s high-speed rail officials to meet project deadlines, he was demanding that the state’s rail officials come up with a viable recovery plan in 30 days.

What are some of the problems with the California High-Speed Rail project?

Prolonged mismanagement, falling into the boondoggle category of poorly conceived, planned and built projects, have fueled criticism about the CHSRA’s capacity to accomplish anything in an expedited manner.

What will be the consequences of the rail authority missing the deadline?

If CHSRA is unable to put forward a credible plan to action, we will withdraw the grant funds and use the money to support other projects across the country.

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