As part of the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s attempt to rein in a ballooning budget, its new CEO in a townhall last week walked back promises about the size of the future Fresno station.

At the Fresnoland Futures’ high-speed rail forum on April 20, CalMatters editor Yousef Baig said the authority is considering reducing the size of the Fresno station.

Baig said he learned about the potential reduction from a high-speed rail authority source. “It’s one of the many aspects of the project the new CEO’s administration is looking at as they aggressively pursue ‘cost savings,'” Baig told GV Wire.

Politicians and investors alike have for years counted on the Fresno station to bring a revival to downtown. Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, who sat on the panel alongside Baig, rail authority CEO Ian Choudri, and Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, D-Fresno, said travelers would shop at stores and restaurants in downtown.

Fresnoland Executive Director Danielle Bergstrom hosted the event.

Some developers have been sitting on downtown properties speculating a rise in values if transit brings a demand to housing and retail, Dyer said.

At hearing Baig’s statement, Dyer said he stood in “total opposition” to a reduction in size on the Fresno station.

But after numerous cost overruns and delays, one of Choudri’s first acts was to initiate an internal audit of spending. His office began the audit in February. He said it would be completed by summer.

Choudri used the example of a massive, unused station in Southern California as the authority undertaking projects before they were ready.

He said the authority’s “sequencing” of planning, building, and buying had frequently been off. He said he’s not committing to the size of the Fresno station.

“Let’s get there at the right time,” Choudri said during the meeting about plans for the Fresno station.

HSR Statement to GV Wire:

In a statement to GV Wire, an authority spokesperson said the Fresno station has been in the design process for nearly two years.

“During this time, we have garnered feedback from the public, (community-based organizations), and stakeholders including city of Fresno staff and elected officials to develop the vision of the station,” the spokesperson said. “We anticipate additional updates on station design and size later this year.”

He said the goal for the authority is to get the system operational as soon as possible while building out the station facilities over time.

“The city of Fresno will be home to the first high-speed rail station in the nation with a station footprint of nearly 30-4o acres,” the spokesperson said.

Not an Option for HSR to Fail: Choudri

When asked if there could be any point at which the nearly two-decade long, multibillion-dollar rail project could be infeasible, Choudri said it’s not an option for high-speed rail to fail.

“I don’t see any path where we say it’s not feasible,” he said.

The project has already gone through the most difficult process of property acquisition and environmental clearance, he said.

Authority officials are now assessing how to reduce costs.

The state has already spent about $13 billion and is now out of bond money, the Associated Press reports.

Choudri has been in talks about securing private funding, but investors want security. Choudri asked Gov. Gavin Newsom to have the state pay back investors with interest.

Related Story: California High-Speed Rail Leader Pushes State to Support Private Investment

Rest of State Needs to See Benefits of HSR: Arambula

Local lawmakers lobbied to have high-speed rail built along Highway 99 specifically to benefit Fresno, even though it would have been easier to build along Interstate 5, Arambula said.

Choudri assured that trains would be running from Merced to Bakersfield by 2032. He also said there would be no more cost overruns.

But he also called the authority’s partnership with the federal government “critical.”

In February, Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy ordered an audit of spending on the project. The audit would determine whether the feds would continue their $4 billion commitment.

Baig said President Donald Trump’s opposition to high-speed rail may galvanize support from Californians.

“The more Trump wants to get rid of it, the more politically savvy Democrats want to be part of the resistance,” Baig said.

Nearly 77% of funding for the $100 billion-plus project comes from the state, Choudri said.

About 25% of the state’s cap-and-trade dollars go to high-speed rail, totaling about $1 billion a year in the last two years, Arambula said. Cap-and-trade will need to be reauthorized past 2030.

He said he’s already begun canvassing legislators for support.

“But they need to see how it benefits them,” Arambula said.

Gilroy Connection Coming Sooner than Expected: Choudri

Dyer shared his doubts about whether high-speed rail would reach Southern California. But the Bay Area connection could still be a major boon to housing and downtown, he said.

The downtown area is zoned for 75,000 housing units across downtown and Chinatown, he said. The state promised $250 million to the city to revitalize infrastructure necessary for that much housing, but lawmakers have delayed $200 million of that.

The city got $50 million and nearly $35 million has been set aside for infrastructure, Dyer said.

“We’re doing what we said we would do, we just need the governor to do what he said he would do,” he said.

Experts have praised the Brightline West project — the privately run high-speed rail route between Las Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga — for its ability to secure funding and break ground.

Choudri said that project runs along California right-of-way, so developers didn’t need to do the same level of property acquisition as for high-speed rail.

They also got environmental exemptions that high-speed rail did not.

The authority will soon be looking at connecting Bakersfield to the Brightline Station by way of Palmdale, Choudri said.

They have also begun working on the connection to Gilroy faster than expected, he said.