California Rail Authority Halves Train Order to 3, Drops Buy America as $9.5 Billion Gap Looms
Updated
Updated · CBS New York · Aug 11
California Rail Authority Halves Train Order to 3, Drops Buy America as $9.5 Billion Gap Looms
1 articles · Updated · CBS New York · Aug 11
Summary
An Aug. 6 procurement revision shows California's high-speed rail authority still has no signed train contract, cut its planned order from six trainsets to three, and set delivery for testing by February 2030.
The authority said it removed federally required Buy America terms after losing a $4 billion federal train grant, arguing the change lowers schedule risk and could allow lease-purchase financing instead of an outright purchase.
Inspector General Ben Belnap warned the project could exhaust current funds by December 2027 without borrowing, with a five-year funding gap of $9.5 billion and potential interest costs of $3.6 billion to $6.6 billion.
The procurement reset follows missed train-contract deadlines in a federal grant and in court filings; after missing a revised Dec. 1, 2025 target, the authority dropped its lawsuit over the canceled federal funding.
Legislative transportation leaders from both parties said they were unaware why trains had not been bought, while the inspector general also accused the authority of obscuring schedule slippage now extending as late as September 2034.
With funds drying up next year, will California's massive rail project derail before a single passenger boards?
Why did the rail authority quietly abandon its Buy America pledge and slash its initial train order?
California High-Speed Rail Unraveled: $231 Billion Costs, Missed Deadlines, and the Transparency Crisis
Overview
California’s high-speed rail project has faced a cascade of setbacks: after missing a key federal deadline to buy trains, the state lost $4 billion in federal funding, triggering a severe financial crisis and a $9.5 billion funding gap. In response, the rail authority halved its initial train order, dropped 'Buy America' rules, and shifted to risky lease-purchase financing. These moves, combined with fragmented governance and ballooning costs, forced the authority to consider selling off assets. Meanwhile, transparency failures and political compromises—like rerouting through the Central Valley and abandoning a dedicated high-speed corridor—have eroded public trust and jeopardized the project’s future.