1 year ago
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FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - Federal officials are auditing the High-Speed Rail.
“This tin assistance find whether billions of dollars successful payer wealth should stay committed to California's high-speed rail,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said.
Duffy announced the probe during a press conference alongside section legislators Thursday.
He says the national authorities is deciding whether to springiness $4 cardinal to help build the agelong of track between Bakersfield and Merced.
“This task really goes done my territory and I've seen this nonaccomplishment firsthand,” District 20 Representative Vince Fong said.
“Isn't it ridiculous that determination isn't a fiscal program successful spot for thing that has already been started building?” District 8 Assemblyman David Tangipa asked.
Local enactment leaders assertion the operation delays and tripled outgo estimation are impervious of the project’s failure.
However, Henry Perea with the Board of Supervisors implicit the High Speed Rail Authority says audits similar this lend to those precise delays.
He says they’ve had astatine slightest 200 audits successful the 10 years since operation began.
“We surely person the program to walk that $4 cardinal arsenic a portion of completing this project. But if they crook astir and say, ‘we're not going to springiness you that money,’ past we person to propulsion back,” Perea said.
Even if they don’t get the money, helium says enactment volition proceed temporarily.
“Right now, we person the wealth successful the slope to support moving for the adjacent two-and-a-half to 3 years. So we're moving forward,” Perea said.
He says the High-Speed Rail task has created a batch of jobs successful our community, and helium wants to spot it done to the end.
Duffy, connected the different hand, is little optimistic.
“The project's not going to happen. There is nary timeline successful which you're going to person a High-Speed Rail that goes from L.A. to San Francisco,” Duffy said.
