The U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials, chaired by U.S. Rep. Jeff Denham (CA 10th District), will hold a field hearing in Sacramento on Thursday, Aug. 9 to review the status and recent changes to the California high-speed rail project, including the most recent modifications to the project’s evolving business plan which was released in June.

The field hearing, entitled “Continued Oversight of the California High-Speed Rail Project,” is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Thursday, Aug. 9, in the Sonora Conference Room of the John E. Moss Federal Building, 650 Capitol Mall, Sacramento, California. This is a public hearing.

The Subcommittee will receive testimony from the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, the California High-Speed Rail Authority, the California High-Speed Rail Peer Review Group, State Senator Andy Vidak, Assemblymember Adam Gray, and the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California.

The multi-billion dollar project is the largest in the federal High-Speed Intercity Passenger Rail program administered by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). California voters first approved a bond measure in 2008 to help finance what was then estimated to be a $33 billion project connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles with high-speed rail service. However, the 2018 business plan now estimates Phase 1 of the project to cost between $77 billion and $98 billion, 20 percent higher than the last estimate included in the 2016 business plan. Furthermore, the project continues to experience schedule delays for environmental reviews and completion of planned segments.