California rail chief quits as costs rise above $100 billion

CalMatters reported that California voters approved a multibillion-dollar bond project 18 years ago; its high-speed rail line still has no tracks, and its price tag has passed $100 billion.

Ian Choudri abruptly resigned on Wednesday as chief executive of the California High-Speed Rail Authority, CalMatters reported. His departure came over a month after California’s Office of the Inspector General determined that the agency had misused public funds.

What did the watchdog find?

The September report from California’s Office of the Inspector General found that the authority paid $543,000 in travel-related reimbursements for consultants when such costs were not allowed. The improper payments included international and out-of-state travel.

The authority also paid $81,000 for consultant trips to places that lacked an official purpose, the report said. CalMatters identified gyms, an escape room and a nightclub among the destinations.

The report raised questions about whether business and pleasure had mixed under Choudri’s oversight. That spending creates a separate test for an agency seeking money for a line it has not yet built.

Why did Choudri resign?

In a resignation email obtained by CalMatters, Choudri cited “important personal and family priorities.”

He wrote: “This has not been an easy decision, as leading the authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life.”

Choudri took office at the authority in 2024, CalMatters reported. His stated reason was personal; the report supplied the political context for his departure.

The sequence now makes personnel policy a condition of any renewed funding effort. California needs a leadership team capable of defending its spending and financing decisions.

What is the authority trying to build?

CalMatters said the authority’s task is to construct a high-speed line that would slash commute times between Los Angeles and San Francisco, two cities about 380 miles apart.

The target covers roughly 380 miles between the two cities. The authority has laid zero miles of track.

CalMatters said the bullet train initially drew comparisons with fast transport in China and Japan. It then became a political and financial headache for California, CalMatters reported.

Eighteen years after voters approved the bond project, the authority still has no tracks and continues to search for funding. CalMatters reported that the project’s price tag has soared upward of $100 billion.

How has funding deteriorated?

The Trump administration, which CalMatters described as adversarial toward several senior California officials, withdrew $4 billion from the project last year while the authority continued to search for funding.

At the time, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the line a “boondoggle” and a “train to nowhere,” CalMatters reported.

The authority still has to replace that lost federal support while looking for additional money. For a project whose railroad remains unbuilt, financing and political credibility now move together.

Who runs the authority now?

Joe Stephenshaw, director of the California Department of Finance, will serve as interim CEO of the rail authority, CalMatters reported. The appointment puts a finance official in charge during the search for funding.

Xavier Becerra, whom CalMatters described as highly favored to become California’s next governor, suggested this week that the authority would need a staff shake-up if he defeated rival Steve Hilton.

In a KCRA News interview aired hours before Choudri’s exit, Becerra said: “We’re going to have to scrub a lot. The high-speed rail authority’s going to have to look really different if we’re going to continue this project,”

He added: “I need to gain the confidence of the public. I can’t gain it if I keep the same characters in place.”

His comments make personnel changes and public confidence central to the project’s next operating phase. Any permanent successor must restore credibility after the reimbursement findings while keeping a line above $100 billion moving toward construction.

The immediate test is whether Stephenshaw can secure a permanent leader and new funding without leaving the $543,000 reimbursement findings behind. Until that happens, California’s plan for a 380-mile line remains a $100 billion-plus project with no track laid. Becerra has already proposed personnel changes and tied the project’s continuation to public confidence.