Feds reveal plan to reuse billions it cut from Gavin Newsom’s high-speed rail project

Billions of dollars pulled from California’s troubled high-speed rail project are being redirected to rail safety upgrades and passenger train improvements across the country, including more than $200 million for projects in California.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced Friday that the Federal Railroad Administration is investing $5.3 billion in rail projects across 23 states, with roughly $2 billion coming from federal funds the Trump administration says it “saved” by canceling unspent funding for California’s high-speed rail project.

The money will help close dangerous railroad crossings, upgrade aging infrastructure and purchase new Amtrak trainsets as the administration touts what it calls a “Golden Age of Rail.”

“It’s simple: Boondoggles are OUT and safety is IN,” Duffy said. “Instead of wasting billions of dollars on Newsom’s failed high-speed rail boondoggle, we are fixing thousands of grade crossings – saving lives and improving communities across America.”

“We’re also making an unprecedented investment in Amtrak because President Trump and I are committed to making passenger rail in America great again,” Duffy added. “Gavin Newsom should take notes–this is how you properly invest hard-earned taxpayer dollars.”

The announcement comes more than a year after Duffy pulled the plug on roughly $4 billion in unspent federal funding for California’s high-speed rail project.

In July 2025, the Federal Railroad Administration terminated the funding after determining that the California High-Speed Rail Authority could not meet its obligations under its federal grant agreements. The federal government said the move would save taxpayers nearly $4 billion and pledged to explore other uses for the money.

Now, approximately $2 billion of that funding is being put toward other passenger rail projects, according to the Transportation Department.

Where the $5.3 billion is going

The federal rail investment is spread across 23 states and includes:

• $2.05 billion to purchase 43 Made-in-America Amtrak trainsets to replace aging equipment.
• $140 million to overhaul 41 Amtrak locomotives serving Midwest and Pacific routes.
• $356 million to the Florida Department of Transportation for repairs and upgrades at up to 910 highway-rail crossings.
• $299 million to North Carolina to eliminate nine grade crossings, install double-track segments and fund trespassing prevention.
• $189 million to Texas to eliminate nine crossings in Fort Worth, Dallas and Terrell.
• $39 million to Hays County, Texas, to construct a grade-separated bridge.
• $40 million to Fairfield, Ohio, to close two rail crossings and build a new bridge over a CSX rail line.
• $2.5 million to New Orleans to repair aging platforms and canopies at the New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.
• $1.1 million to Crete, Nebraska, to study eight existing at-grade crossings and determine needed improvements.

Where the money is going in California

California is also receiving more than $200 million from the broader $5.3 billion rail investment for projects designed to improve safety and infrastructure.

• $124.4 million — Eastbrook to Shell Double Track: The grant will fund final design and construction of a new double-track segment, bridge replacement, pedestrian improvements and rail-crossing safety upgrades in Oceanside, Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton and surrounding communities. The project is part of a larger effort to double-track the San Diego subdivision of the LOSSAN Corridor.
• $43 million — Cherry Avenue Grade Separation: The funding will support project development, final design, right-of-way acquisition and construction to separate an existing BNSF-owned rail crossing at Cherry Avenue in Shafter. The project will benefit Amtrak’s San Joaquin service.
• $33.6 million — Encinitas railroad crossing safety: The money will fund improvements along roughly six miles of the LOSSAN Corridor, including new vehicle and pedestrian gates at three crossings, closure of one pedestrian crossing, two new pedestrian and bicycle crossings and a new pedestrian and bicycle undercrossing.

California recorded 46 grade-crossing fatalities in 2025, while nationwide crossings see more than 2,000 incidents and 200 deaths each year. The FRA said it focused funding on crossings with the worst safety records.

California’s high-speed rail project is moving into track installation in the Central Valley, with about 80 miles of guideway and 58 major structures completed.

An inspector general warned of a $9.5 billion funding gap and said the project could run out of cash by late 2027 without new borrowing. The state is targeting service on the 171-mile Merced-to-Bakersfield segment around 2033.

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The broader federal package will close more than 30 crossings, upgrade more than 1,000 and provide $2.05 billion for 43 new Amtrak trainsets and $140 million to overhaul 41 locomotives.

The FRA received 103 applications seeking more than $11.6 billion through the National Railroad Partnership Program.

The Trump administration has cast the spending as a better use of taxpayer dollars than California’s high-speed rail project, which federal officials have criticized over delays, rising costs and funding shortfalls.

California officials have continued defending the project and pointing to construction progress in the Central Valley.

The Post has reached out to Newsom’s office for comment.