High‑Speed Rail Authority Defends 2026 Business Plan as Lawmakers Press for Financing Details

SACRAMENTO — The California High‑Speed Rail Authority on Monday told a Senate budget subcommittee that construction in the Central Valley is progressing and that a revised business plan contains tens of billions in cost‑saving measures, but lawmakers and the Legislative Analyst’s Office pressed the authority for clearer financing details and oversight provisions.

Ian Choudhury, chief executive officer of the California High‑Speed Rail Authority, told the Senate Budget Subcommittee No. 5 that crews have completed 59 of 92 major structures and about 80 of 119 miles in the Central Valley, that utility relocations are 93% finished and that track laying and electrification are slated to begin by the end of the year to support an early operating segment from Merced to Bakersfield in 2032–33. "We have completed 59 of 92 major structures and 80 of the 119 miles," Choudhury said, noting design optimizations that the authority says have produced more than $14 billion in Central Valley savings and reduced capital costs for the Merced–Bakersfield early operating segment to $35.6 billion.

Why it matters: The hearing focused on whether the authority’s funding assumptions and statutory proposals are sufficient to meet the authority’s schedule and avoid leaving the state on the hook for additional borrowing. The Legislative Analyst’s Office cautioned that some authority estimates…