California’s high-speed rail project between San Francisco and Los Angeles is facing major funding hurdles.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Brian Kelly testified this week at the state Senate Transportation Committee about the authority’s updated draft business plan. Kelly told lawmakers he had $28 billion dollars on hand, but that is still several billion dollars short to make progress on the Central Valley segment between Madera and Merced.
He said he is hoping to fill that gap with federal funds to get it to the projected $32 to $35 billion cost.
That part of the project is now expected to be fully operational at the earliest in 2030.
Aside from the money to fill the gap in the Central Valley, project leaders still need an additional $100 billion to complete the bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles.
Voters were originally pitched the idea in 2008. The expectation then was that it would be complete by now. But almost 16 years later, there is no definitive end in sight.
“Right now the air is being sucked out of the room funding wise by this one project,” state Sen. Kelly Seyarto said. “How do we get the public onboard with something that has this much of a downside to it funding wise?”
“I think the only way you get the public is by performing better,” Kelly said. “And I think the authority’s performing better today than it was, and I think it will going forward.”
Kelly also hopes there are opportunities for funding from the private sector.
