What’s next for California’s high-speed rail after Trump Admin blocks key funding

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LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 03: Passengers board Metrolink subway trains during rush hour on June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California. Skyrocketing gas prices are driving more commuters to take trains and buses to work instead of their cars. In the first three months of 2008, the number of trips taken on public transport in the US rose 3 percent to 2.6 billion, creating pressures on some transportation systems to cope with increasing ridership. Transit officials in southern California and elsewhere are now encouraging employers to stagger employee schedules to ease the rush hour crunch on trains and buses and Metrolink plans to add107 rail cars to its fleet of 155 as soon as next year. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) — Passengers board Metrolink subway trains during rush hour on June 3, 2008 in Los Angeles, California.

According to an article by the San Francisco Gate, a $647 million federal grant for the electrification of Caltrain will be deferred, putting a hold on plans to finish California’s high-speed rail project.

Is California's high-speed rail project dead?

Well . . . it's definitely hit the brakes.

That's due to the deferment of a $647 million federal grant for the electrification of Caltrain, which has put a hold on plans to finish California’s high-speed rail project.

The delay was prompted by a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao from 14 Congressional Republicans. It called for a full audit to be completed prior to any grant approval. Funding would have paid for a 50-mile electrical power system for both Caltrain and a potential high speed rail to travel from San Jose to San Francisco, and critics of the move are describing this as the Trump Administration’s attack on the state of California. Gov. Jerry Brown last week asked the president’s administration to reverse the decision to withhold the grant. And senators Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein are among lawmakers who have expressed their support of funding the project.

So what’s the future of the high-speed rail? Larry weighs in with experts on the project to find out.

Guests:

Ralph Vartabedian, L.A. Times national correspondent; he has been following the story; he tweets

Tweets by RVartabedian

Meghan McCarty, KPCC reporter covering commuting and mobility issues; she tweets

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Ethan Elkind, Director of the Climate Change and Business Program, a joint program between UCLA and UC Berkeley schools of law. He is the author of “Railtown: The Fight for the Los Angeles Metro Rail and the Future of the City” (University of California Press, 2014); he tweets

Tweets by EthanElkind