{"id":390331,"date":"2026-07-08T09:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/390331\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T09:01:29","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T09:01:29","slug":"ca-high-speed-rail-seeks-new-federal-funds-after-4b-rescission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/390331\/","title":{"rendered":"CA High-Speed Rail seeks new federal funds after $4B rescission"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite losing billions<\/a> to President Donald Trump\u2019s administration last year, the California High-Speed Rail Authority<\/a> is seeking new federal money to help pay for construction in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

The rail authority on Tuesday confirmed it has applied for \u201capproximately\u201d $500 million from the Federal Railroad Administration \u2014 the same federal agency that pulled $4 billion from the project in August under the direction of Trump-appointed Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy.<\/p>\n

At the same time, the rail authority has acknowledged that the Trump administration could actually try to rescind more of the federal dollars it still has left \u2014 about $242 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is definitely some opportunity left,\u201d Rail authority CFO Jamey Matalka said during the agency\u2019s June 24 board meeting.<\/p>\n

The rail authority\u2019s intent to continue seeking federal money reflects CEO Ian Choudri\u2019s push to secure more funding wherever there\u2019s an opportunity \u2014 be it the private sector, the state or even a federal government that opposes the project. Choudri has cautioned that the rail authority is facing a cashflow problem that could keep it from meeting deadlines in the Central Valley and from quickly building beyond the region.<\/p>\n

The agency has been at odds with Trump since his first term, when he pulled $1 billion from the project that were later returned during Joe Biden\u2019s presidency. Trump has long criticized the project\u2019s history of delays, cost increases and focus on the Central Valley segment \u2014 which he has often described as a \u201ctrain to nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n

In California, the state has provided more than 80%<\/a> of the $15 billion spent on the project so far. But during a recent visit to Fresno, Choudri told The Bee that \u201cwe do want” a federal partnership and noted that successful high-speed rail systems in other countries have all had their national government\u2019s support.<\/p>\n

\"California California High-Speed Rail team members walk across the nearly completed San Joaquin River viaduct section of the rail system near Highway 99 between Fresno County and Madera County on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Cables, tracks and other infrastructure are soon to come, say authorities. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com HSRA wants rail grant for Merced, meets with feds monthly<\/p>\n

The rail authority wants money from the Federal Railroad Authority\u2019s Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements Program<\/a>. The program has carved out $532 million for projects in rural areas.<\/p>\n

Matalka said during the rail authority\u2019s June 24 board meeting that the agency wants the money to help extend the system from Madera County to Merced. The rail authority has begun looking for contractors<\/a> who could build the 30-mile segment\u2019s civil infrastructure \u2014 a project expected to begin late next year and that could cost $2.4 billion.<\/p>\n

During the same meeting, Matalka told board members the rail authority meets with the Federal Railroad Authority monthly to provide updates related to the obligations on the federal money it has left. Though he admitted another rescission is possible, Matalka said federal officials \u201cso far\u201d have not commented that they intend to pursue one.<\/p>\n

Duffy, Trump\u2019s transportation secretary, argued the rail authority had broken the terms of two of its federal grant agreements when he decided to pull $4 billion from the project last year \u2014 money that was earmarked for key projects in the Central Valley, including the downtown Fresno station and Merced extension.<\/p>\n

Despite dropping its lawsuit against the federal government in December, the rail authority has maintained its position that last July\u2019s $4 billion rescission was \u201cillegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"California California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Ian Choudri stands below the archway of the nearly completed San Joaquin River viaduct section of the rail system near Highway 99 between Fresno County and Madera County on Wednesday, June 17, 2026. Cables, tracks and other infrastructure are soon to come, say authorities. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com Choudri invites feds to visit Central Valley, says rail not \u2018about politics\u2019<\/p>\n

In a mid-June interview, Choudri touted California high-speed rail\u2019s progress in the Central Valley.<\/p>\n

\u201cI invite our federal partners to come and see, and then work with us, collaborate with us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The CEO disputed the idea that building the system is \u201cabout politics\u201d and said it should be looked at as a \u201cpublic infrastructure project.\u201d He added that in Europe and Japan, it\u2019s \u201calways the national government that commits.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe administrations change over time, but the programs keep moving,\u201d Choudri said. \u201cTreat this as the American infrastructure project, and then we will provide you all the information you need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Related Stories from Fresno Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Erik Galicia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Fresno Bee<\/p>\n

Erik is a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism, where he helped launch an effort to better meet the news needs of Spanish-speaking immigrants. Before that, he served as editor-in-chief of his community college student newspaper, Riverside City College Viewpoints, where he covered the impacts of the Salton Sea\u2019s decline on its adjacent farm worker communities in the Southern California desert.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite losing billions to President Donald Trump\u2019s administration last year, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is seeking new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":390332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":["post-390331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=390331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/390331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/390332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=390331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=390331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=390331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}