‘Finish what we started.’ State leaders say high-speed rail will see completion at Fresnoland Futures event -

What is these folks smoking? It will cost over $200 billion dollars—and another 20 years, at the least, before the train to nowhere could be completed. Then you have the problem a ticket will be priced out of the reach of 95% of California—and the others have private planes. This is the biggest scam in American history.

“Ian Choudri, who was named CEO of the rail authority in August, was unwavering in commitments not only to complete the Central Valley-contained part of the tracks on time – but also the entire embattled project to connect the Central Valley to Southern California and the Bay Area.

“I don’t see any point where we have to say, we cannot do it,” he said.”

In other words you are going to scam the public out of billions before you admit the truth! Why hasn’t the media exposed this open corrupt?

‘Finish what we started.’ State leaders say high-speed rail will see completion at Fresnoland Futures event

Ian Choudri, who was named CEO of the rail authority in August, was unwavering in commitments not only to complete the Central Valley-contained part of the tracks on time – but also the entire embattled project to connect the Central Valley to Southern California and the Bay Area.

by Julianna Morano, Fresnoland, 4/23/25 https://fresnoland.org/2025/04/23/high-speed-rail/

What’s at stake?

Tuesday’s discussion comes at a time when the future of the rail project’s funding is at stake, both on the federal and state levels.

The head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority told an auditorium of Fresnans something they’re not used to hearing: that one part of the massive state infrastructure project will not be delayed any further.

That segment is the part of the tracks that will run from Bakersfield to Merced, and that promised completion date is in 2033.

“I don’t see any point where we have to say, we cannot do it,” he said.

No matter what’s happening in Sacramento or Washington, we will continue to do what we’ve always done: hold our local officials accountable and report the stories that affect daily life in the Central Valley.

“That would be a disaster for the U.S., and for the entire northern hemisphere.”

Choudri was joined by Mayor Jerry Dyer, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and CalMatters California Voices Editor Yousef Baig for a Fresnoland Futures panel Tuesday at Fresno City College, discussing the future of high-speed rail.

From its inception, the state infrastructure project has come with many promises for Fresno, promises the three other panelists agreed with Choudri will happen someday – even if it’s a long way off.

“Stopping this project – I just can’t see it happening,” Dyer said.

But there’s a way to go before the grand vision of the country’s first high-speed rail connecting California is realized.

That journey includes answering key questions about state funding sources that are drying up and the federal government’s role, panelists said.

“How we are able to bridge that divide and meet the financial requirements is the hard work that’s before us,” Arambula said, “but we just have to finish what we started.”

Federal funding

Tuesday’s discussion comes at a time when the future of the rail project’s funding is at stake, both on the federal and state levels.

Over three quarters, or about 77%, of its funding has historically come from state sources, state officials said Tuesday.

That’s in stark contrast to how completed high-speed rails in other countries have been funded, panelists stressed – and something Choudri said he hopes can change.

“We do want to continue to look for opportunities to work with the federal government and continue to secure more funding,” he said. “That’s just how these large, mega programs are built across the globe.”

But that’s anything but certain under President Donald Trump.

His administration initiated an audit of the project in February. That followed a report from the Office of the Inspector General, which indicated the project wasn’t on track to meet a 2033 deadline for the Merced-Bakersfield segment.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced at the time that the audit would “help determine whether billions of dollars in taxpayer money should remain committed to California.”

Choudri said they’ll continue to build even if the federal part of the budget “disappears.”

“If that happens, we have to adjust,” he said, “pivot and just continue building what we are doing.”

He added that he’s been going after private investors to partner on the project as well.

State funding

A major state funding source for the high-speed rail also faces an uncertain future – which Arambula is actively negotiating in the state legislature.

That source is the state’s cap-and-trade program. Cap-and-trade allows companies responsible for greenhouse gas emissions to purchase and trade credits based on their level of emissions. That revenue is then allocated toward state investments in areas that fight emissions, including clean transportation.

Right now, high-speed rail receives about 25% of that revenue, equating to about $1 billion annually, Arambula said. But the cap-and-trade program is only authorized through 2030.

Other state programs are “jealous” of high-speed rail’s share of the funding, he added – and the project’s moving target of a completion date has made it difficult for them to make a case for additional funding since the rail’s promises of reduced greenhouse gas emissions aren’t evident yet.

Despite that, Arambula said he’s “fighting hard” to maintain that percentage of revenue.

“It’s imperative for us to reauthorize cap and trade,” Arambula said, “and to make sure that that appropriation is at 25%.”

Downtown Fresno and the future of the project

Fresno’s high-speed rail station is planned to have two entrances: one on the eastside of the tracks in downtown, and the other on the westside in Chinatown.

Those plans have become intertwined with conversations about revitalization for the city’s urban core, and not seeing those come to fruition would be “devastating” for the two neighborhoods, Dyer said.

High-speed rail isn’t the only boon that’s been dangling over Chinatown and downtown Fresno – there’s also the promise of $250 million in revitalization funds from the Newsom administration.

But the majority of that funding, $200 million, has been delayed at least one year, and Dyer said he’s still awaiting the governor’s May revision of the state budget to see whether those funds will materialize in the next fiscal year.

Outside of the downtown revitalization funding, Fresno also received $43.7 million in state grants for infrastructure upgrades, which have already gone toward ongoing projects in Chinatown that the city expects to complete by the end of the year.

“We’re doing what we said we would do,” Dyer said. “We just need the governor to do what he said he would do.”

High-speed rail and job creation

Downtown Fresno’s readiness for a high-speed rail station was also a key part of a discussion earlier in the day in Fresnoland’s afternoon panels on the project.

If you ask Elliott Balch, CEO of the Downtown Fresno Partnership, downtown still has some hurdles before it gets there.

That includes 350,000 square feet of vacant space, Balch estimated.

“The state of our downtown is going to play a role in people’s decisions about whether to get off the train,” he said.

Balch was joined by other economic, workforce development and labor leaders in Fresno County to discuss the potential economic impact of the massive state infrastructure project.

Dillon Savory, executive director of the Central Labor Council, emphasized that when it comes to the future of high-speed rail construction, thousands of local jobs hang in the balance.

“High-speed rail can be a full career for some people,” he said. “If it completely went away, there would be thousands of people that … thought that they had 30 years’ worth of work that potentially would suddenly be unemployed.”

A discussion of Chinatown’s future

In another afternoon panel hosted by Fresnoland, local and state leaders talked about the future of Chinatown – a Fresno neighborhood that’s been no stranger to neglect from local government over the past century-and-a-half.

Some business owners recently told Fresnoland they’re holding out hope the historic neighborhood will reap the benefits of the project someday, despite suffering road closures and construction delays over the years.

That includes Morgan Doizaki, owner of the Central Fish Company, who spoke on Tuesday’s panel of the long-awaited investments that have come to Chinatown in the wake of high-speed rail, including infrastructure investments.

“We’re not going to be just the backside of high-speed rail,” he said.

He also championed historic preservation efforts while the neighborhood evolves, including identifying streets that were historically home to Chinatown’s many ethnic communities – not just Chinese but also Japanese, African American, Basque and Latino, to name a few.

Doizaki imagined something akin to the portion of M Street in downtown Fresno in front of the Saroyan Theater, named Audra McDonald Way in honor of the Broadway start with Fresno roots.

“If we can identify some of those streets in Chinatown,” he said, “I think that’s how you preserve history.”