According to CCTV News on August 28th， the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the cancellation of $175 million in grants for four high-speed rail construction projects in California.
California officials have responded， stating that this action is a continuation of the Trump administration’s attacks on the state’s high-speed rail initiative.
Just last month， the U.S. federal government rescinded another tranche of funding for the California high-speed rail project.
The first phase of California’s high-speed rail project was originally planned to connect Los Angeles and San Francisco， with a projected travel time of three hours. It was widely expected to become the fastest passenger rail system in operation in the United States.
The project initially had a budget of $33 billion and a completion target of 2020. However， the latest cost estimates have surged to between $89 billion and $128 billion， with projected operational launch now delayed until 2033.
It is worth noting that in March of this year， Tesla CEO Elon Musk suggested that the U.S. Postal Service and Amtrak should be privatized.
He also drew a comparison between the passenger rail systems in China and the United States， describing China’s high-speed rail as “amazing” and American passenger rail as “embarrassing.”
Musk commented， “If you go to China， you will experience amazing high-speed rail journeys， they are fantastic.”
“But when you come back to the United States， you feel like Amtrak is in a terrible state，” Musk added.
