Long-awaiting plans to connect California via a series of bullet-train lines have hit yet another major snag, as the federal government announced it had pulled $4 billion in previously committed federal funding from the project, NBC News reported. 

The project head called the move "illegal" while California Governor Gavin Newsom accused President Donald Trump of wanting "to hand China the future," per NBC News. 

What's happening?

For decades, California policymakers have pushed their vision of fully electrified, high-speed trains whisking passengers up and down the coast at 200 miles per hour, causing far less pollution while escaping the headaches of flying or driving.

This dream dates back at least to the early 1980s, but the proposal's biggest step toward becoming a reality came in 2008 when voters approved a statewide measure that created a funding mechanism for the construction of a high-speed rail network, according to the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

In 2023, the Biden Administration awarded California $3.1 billion in federal funds toward the high-speed rail project, which aimed to connect California, Los Angeles, and the Central Valley with 220-mile-per-hour, fully electrified trains, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced at the time.

The Trump Administration now has pulled back all of that funding and more. 

"Cancelling these grants without cause isn't just wrong — it's illegal," said Ian Choudria, CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, per NBC News. "These are legally binding agreements, and the Authority has met every obligation, as confirmed by repeated federal reviews, as recently as February 2025."  

Why is high-speed rail important?

As places like Japan, China, and Europe have already demonstrated, high-speed rail networks can be a highly efficient, economically viable, and environmentally cleaner way to transport large numbers of people across great distances. 

As planned, California's high-speed rail network would run on 100% renewable energy, preventing more than 150 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent from entering the atmosphere in its first 50 years of operation, according to Rail Authority estimates. 

That is roughly as much heat-trapping pollution as the entire country of the Philippines releases in a single year, according to data from World Population Review. 

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Billions of dollars in funding for California's high-speed rail has come from the state's cap-and-trade system, which charges big polluters a fee for the planet-warming, health-harming gases they pump into the atmosphere.

Over the past decade, the high-speed rail project has received $7 billion from the state's innovative cap-and-trade program, and Governor Newsom has proposed earmarking $1 billion per year of cap-and-trade funding for high-speed rail through 2045, CalMatters reported.  

Despite over a decade of planning, years of construction, and billions spent, California has yet to bring any stretch of its high-speed rail network online for passengers.

What's being done about high-speed rail?

Given the accusations of illegality, California policymakers appeared poised to take the fight over the $4 billion in federal funding to the courts. In the meantime, the California High-Speed Rail Authority is hoping that private investors and other sources can help fill the funding gap.

Regardless of what actions policymakers might be taking at the state and federal level, there are always plenty of ways to make a difference locally.

Even without expensive high-speed rail networks, you can limit the amount of planet-warming pollution you produce by riding a bicycle, taking public transit, driving an EV, or installing solar panels on your home. 

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