A Republican lawmaker has set his sights on federal funding for California’s high-speed rail, driven by the ambitious initiative’s escalating costs and significant delays.

On Wednesday, California Representative Kevin Kiley announced that he would be proposing a bill to halt federal funding for the “failed California High-Speed Rail Project.”

“California’s high-speed rail project has failed because of political ineptitude, and there is no plausible scenario where the cost to federal or state taxpayers can be justified,” Kiley said on Wednesday. “Our share of federal transportation funding should go towards real infrastructure needs, such as improving roads that rank among the worst in the country.”

Newsweek reached out to the California High-Speed Rail Authority via phone and email for comment.

When contacted for comment, Kiley’s office said that the bill would be introduced at the beginning of the 119th Congress, set to commence on January 3.

Kiley’s office added that the bill aims to terminate the project entirely, after which proposals will be introduced advocating for federal funding to be directed toward California’s roads and existing infrastructure.

While Kiley’s bill will need to go through the customary legislative procedures of House, Senate and Executive approval before becoming law, it is only the latest example of opposition to the ballooning costs and minimal returns associated with the massive infrastructure project.

What is California’s high-speed rail project?

The project, funding for which was first authorized in 2008, is a planned high-speed rail route connecting Los Angeles and San Francisco, with second-phase plans incorporating routes to San Diego and Sacramento.

It was initially expected to be operational by 2020. However, in its 2024 business plan, the California High-Speed Rail Authority set a target to launch service in the Initial Operating Segment (IOS) connecting Merced and Bakersfield between 2030 and 2033.

The purpose of the project, which would be the United States’ first high-speed rail network, is to create an efficient and environmentally friendly transportation system, reducing traffic congestion, cutting greenhouse gas emissions, and offering Californians an alternative to air and car travel.

“California’s high-speed rail project plays an important role as part of the broader climate solution in our state,” the California State Transportation Agency has said. “It will provide the backbone of our statewide rail service that will increase connectivity between communities, statewide, regional and urban areas.”

Funding for the project comes from the state and federal level, $3.1 billion of which was recently allocated as part of the Biden Administration’s 2023 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

Why is the project facing pushback?

The project has been heavily criticized for escalating costs and numerous setbacks in its construction. Opponents argue that state and federal funds would be better spent on alternative transportation projects to connect Californians.

The project was initially expected to cost taxpayers $33 billion. As of February, however, the California High-Speed Rail Authority estimates that completing the route will cost between $89 and $128 billion. It justified this figure by stating that constructing “equivalent highway and air passenger capacity” would require between $179 to $253 billion in funds.

In recent remarks on the House floor, Kiley called the project “perhaps the single greatest example of government waste in United States history.”

In the Wednesday announcement, Kiley cited recent criticisms of the project from the Department of Government Efficiency, the new advisory body announced by President-elect Donald Trump. Led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the unofficial department has been tasked with devising strategies to curb excessive federal spending and eliminate unnecessary government regulations.

“This is a wasteful vanity project, burning billions in taxpayer cash, with little prospect for completion in the next decade,” Ramaswamy wrote of the California project in late November.

Kiley, who also sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, has instead advocated for federal funds to go “towards real infrastructure needs” of Californians, such as improvements to existing roads.

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