Originally planned as a 495-mile line between Los Angeles in the south and San Francisco in the north, with a proposed leg in the north to Sacramento, work has been proceeding since 2019 on a 171-mile initial segment in the Central Valley between Bakersfield in the south and Merced in the north.
On that initial stretch, some 60 miles of guideway has been completed and 54 of 93 necessary structures have been built, with 30 more currently under construction, says the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA).
In February, President Trump’s transport secretary Sean Duffy ordered the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to investigate whether $4bn pledged by the Biden administration for the project should be withdrawn.
This week, acting FRA head Drew Feeley wrote to the CHSRA claiming the project has missed repeated deadlines and exceeded cost estimates by billions of dollars. The letter gave the authority 30 days to respond before what it said was a likely decision to revoke the funding, The New York Times reports.
Majority in favour
That would be unpopular in the state, according to a recent poll commissioned by Politico and UC Berkeley’s Jack Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research.
It found that 67% of registered voters statewide support continuing the project, with just 33% opposed.
82% of Democrats supported the project, as did 63% of Independents and 42% of Republicans, according to the survey.
The poll, which asked a range of questions about the performance of the state government, was conducted on the TrueDot.ai platform from 1–14 April 2025 among 1,025 California registered voters. The modelled error estimate for the survey is plus or minus five percentage points.
‘Tired of traffic jams’
Rail advocacy group US High Speed Rail noted that the poll showed growing support after a 2022 Los Angeles Times/UC Berkeley Institute of Government Studies poll found that 56% of registered California voters supported continued construction, compared to 35% opposed.
“California voters are tired of traffic jams and airport delays,” said Andy Kunz, president and chief executive of US High Speed Rail.
“Support for the California High-Speed Rail project is growing as the state’s transportation system continues to grind to a halt.”
Of all the registered voters in the state, Los Angeles and Bay Area voters are the most supportive of continuing California High-Speed Rail, the survey found.
71% of registered voters in both major metropolitan areas responded yes to the question, “Do you support or oppose California continuing the state’s high-speed rail project?”
The project found favour among 68% of respondents in the Inland Empire (taking in San Bernardino and Riverside), 64% in Orange County/San Diego, and 56% in the Central Valley.
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