Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy on Sunday hailed the President Donald Trump administration’s investment in developing the U.S. rail system, criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom‘s (D-CA) high-speed rail system.
$5 Billion Investment in the U.S. Rail System
In a post on X, Duffy shared a video, touting a $5 billion investment in the U.S. rail network. “We are putting money where it matters, and delivering results for the American people,” he said. The video showed Duffy at the Cincinnati Union Terminal, saying that the railway station’s peak saw 17,000 passengers transit daily.
Out of the $5 billion, about $2.4 billion of the funding was redirected from federal grants previously committed to California’s high-speed rail project. Earlier, Xavier Becerra, who won the Democratic Primaries to replace term-limited Newsom in November’s California gubernatorial election, had vowed to scrap the project in its current iteration.
DOT Touts New Trainsets
According to an official statement released by the Department of Transportation on Friday, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) would be investing $5.3 billion in upgrading the system, including a $2.05 billion investment to purchase 43 new trainsets for Amtrak.
“Instead of wasting billions of dollars on a train to nowhere, we are fixing thousands of grade crossings – saving lives and improving communities across America,” Duffy said in the statement. The investment also includes closing over 30 grade crossings and upgrading roughly 1,000 crossings with new infrastructure.
The California High-Speed Rail Authority says 463 miles of the planned 494-mile San Francisco-to-Anaheim Phase 1 system have been environmentally cleared and are construction-ready. Construction is currently active on 119 miles in the Central Valley, with more than 80 miles of guideway completed. However, the project still faces a substantial funding gap. California officials have acknowledged that additional funding will be needed to complete the broader system.
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