This is a HUGE victory for UP and our senior fellow Wendell Cox, who has been the nation’s leading critic of this as much as $135 billion train to nowhere for many years (and with so little of the project completed, it seems likely that costs could still rise considerably). Our report in April (available here) and his articles in The Wall Street Journal have exposed the shocking failure and ballooning costs of the project.

So we were thrilled that the Trump administration has reached the same conclusion, issuing a comprehensive report yesterday.

In a letter to CHSRA CEO, Ian Choudri, the Trump DOT highlighted that its report uncovered a pattern of project delays, mismanagement, waste, and escalating costs, amounting to a “default” on its obligations to federal taxpayers.

“This report exposes a cold, hard truth: CHSRA has no viable path to complete this project on time or on budget. CHSRA is on notice — If they can’t deliver on their end of the deal, it could soon be time for these funds to flow to other projects… that can achieve President Trump’s vision of building great, big, beautiful things again,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy. “Our country deserves high-speed rail that makes us proud – not boondoogle trains to nowhere.”

In its letter, DOT cribbed from Cox’s UP report by noting:

What started as a proposed 800-mile system was first reduced to 500 miles, then became a 171-mile segment, and is now very likely ended as a 119-mile track to nowhere.