Trump administration pulls $4bn in funds for high-speed rail in California

US president blasts long-delayed undertaking to hyperlink Los Angeles and San Francisco as a ‘boondoggle’ and a ‘practice to nowhere’.

United States President Donald Trump has pulled the plug on $4bn in funding for a long-delayed high-speed rail line in California, blasting the undertaking as a “boondoggle” and a “practice to nowhere”.

Trump stated in a social media put up on Wednesday that he had “freed” taxpayers from the “disastrously overpriced” proposed railway linking Los Angeles and San Francisco, which has been tormented by delays and value overruns.

“This boondoggle, led by the incompetent Governor of California, Gavin Newscum, has value Taxpayers A whole bunch of Billions of {Dollars}, and now we have acquired NOTHING in return besides Price Overruns,” Trump wrote on Fact Social, utilizing a nickname he generally deploys to mock the state’s Democratic governor, Gavin Newsom.

“The Railroad we have been promised nonetheless doesn’t exist, and by no means will.”

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy accused Democrats of losing taxpayers’ cash and stated federal cash was not a “clean cheque”.

“It’s time for this boondoggle to die,” Duffy stated in an announcement.

Newsom slammed the Trump administration’s transfer as unlawful and stated the state would put “all choices on the desk” to oppose the funding lower.

“Trump desires handy China the long run and abandon the Central Valley. We gained’t let him,” Newsom stated in an announcement.

The 1,249km (776-mile) rail line, which was authorised by California voters in a 2008 plebiscite, was initially envisaged for completion in 2020 at a value of $33bn.

The undertaking’s estimated value has since ballooned to $89bn to $128bn, with companies not anticipated to start till 2033 on the earliest.

The US presently doesn’t have a high-speed rail service, however a 354km (220-mile) high-speed hyperlink between Los Angeles and Las Vegas is scheduled to start operations in 2028.