The Trump administration said there was no "viable way" to move forward and threatened to earn billions of dollars in federal funds, so California's efforts to build a high-speed rail surface over the years were another obstacle.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy released a compliance review report saying the project defaulted on the terms of its federal grant award and said it was plagued by mismanagement, waste and growing costs.

"It's cold, hard facts - there's no viable way to complete the railway project on time or on a budget," Duffy said.

In Japan and Europe, high-speed rail has long been a dream in California, and hopes it will reduce the environmental impact of states known for its rampant car use, turning states and economic developments into thousands of job-related states.

In 2008, California voters approved $10 billion in funding for the bullet train, which was supposed to take passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in less than three hours and completed in 2020 for a total cost of $3.3 billion.

The estimated cost of the project is expected to exceed $100 billion for seventeen years. The state is now not centered on the original route designed to connect the metropolitan area of ​​California, but is 171 miles from the Central Valley, expected to be completed by 2033, with a cost of more than $3.5 billion. The entire production line was cleared in 2024, and the project finally started to get on track this year. The frustration over delays and growing costs has increased.

In 2019, Donald Trump canceled nearly $1 billion in funding for the project. However, the Biden administration restored the funds and later allocated $3.3 billion to the project. But most of California's budget is expected to be proposed so far. The state has provided 82% of the $14 billion it has already spent on the project.

“The United States is not closer to launching a high-speed rail than California,” the state’s governor Gavin Newsom said earlier this year. “We are entering the track laying phase, completing the structure of key segments and laying the foundation for the high-speed rail network.”

But in a report released Wednesday, Drew Feeley, an acting administrator for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), said the state “has no viable plan to deliver the portion on time.”

"From the beginning of a proposed 800-mile system that was reduced to 500 miles first and then became a 171-mile segment, now likely to end with a 119-mile track," Feely wrote.

His letter said the review “reveals patterns of impossible proposals and unrealistic assumptions on a wide range of issues” and “numerous orders for change in almost every contract”, citing a February 2025 report by the Inspector General of the Railway Administration that found that the agency found “no reliable plans” that could close the $700 million funding gap in central valves.

The California High Speed ​​Railroad Administration has 30 days to provide documentation to show its compliance. Authorities said in a statement Wednesday that it disagrees with the FRA's "misleading" conclusion and pointed to the governor's latest budget proposal, which includes at least $1 billion a year for the project over the next 20 years.

“We remain firmly committed to completing the first truly high-speed rail system in the state’s major population center.”