California High-Speed Rail Authority board members heard words of frustration and disappointment from Merced officials Thursday – nearly a week after a report from the agency suggested possibly removing Merced from the bullet train’s initial operating segment.
Local officials like Frank Quintero, Merced’s deputy city manager, say they were given no advance notice before the authority released its 2025 Supplemental Project Update Report on Friday, Aug. 22.
Quintero, who addressed the board of directors in person during the public comment session of Thursday’s meeting in Sacramento, said the city of Merced has considered the High-Speed Rail Authority as a partner going back to the project’s inception more than two decades ago.
Despite that partnership, Quintero said Merced recently felt abandoned, receiving “no communication, and no courtesy heads up” prior to the release of the report that included the potential for Merced to be left off of the route for initial operations.
“We felt blindsided on Friday, Aug. 22 when the project update was released suggesting Merced be resequenced,” Quintero said.
Quintero added that Merced has always stood by the authority when they needed letters of support or someone to testify on behalf of the project.
“We are grateful for the optimism high-speed rail has brought to the community, but that brilliance is now tarnished,” Quintero said.
“We hope that a crystal clear line of communication is reestablished between the High-Speed Rail Authority and the city of Merced. We hope to rekindle the partnership with the authority, rather than feel like we don’t belong and (have) been abandoned.”
While other local officials were more subdued in their remarks toward the board, the feeling was palpable that Merced had not been treated in good faith.
Stacie Guzman, executive director of the Merced County Association of Governments, told the board she was disappointed by the option to remove Merced from the initial operating segment.
Guzman said the authority has had a long history of supporting Merced as a station on the high-speed rail project because of the expanded access to passenger rail, particularly with the planned connection with the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) Rail train and the Amtrak San Joaquins.
“What is talked about less is also the unique component of the Merced station that will provide a connection for visitors to Yosemite National Park, via the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System that provides public transit year round from Merced, and of course the station here in Merced will connect Californians to the UC campus now in our city limits,” Guzman said.
Guzman added that local officials have also been working on a regional multimodal access plan focused on providing express transit between the Merced high-speed rail station and UC Merced.
“It really is the future of Merced that we are building around,” Guzman told the board. “It’s a future that we’re planning for and we want for the Merced region. So I just really encourage you to continue to work with the Merced community to find a path forward for the preservation of our station. “
Dalia Costa, a management analyst for Merced County, read a prepared statement expressing disappointment in the report, saying the county first found out about it through media reports.
Costa said Merced County has made multiple attempts to collaborate and communicate with the High-Speed Rail Authority. “But it seems our requests have fallen on deaf ears,” Costa told the board.
“We remain hopeful that Merced County be actively included in all further discussions about the high-speed rail project affecting Merced County and request that you have more consistent, transparent conversations with our team,” Costa added.
Merced station required by law
Under Proposition 1A, which was passed by California voters in 2008, the state is required to build a high -speed rail station in Merced. That station has been a key part of plans for the initial 171-mile operating segment of the bullet train from Bakersfield in the south to Merced in the north.
But the new report estimates operation of the Bakersfield to Merced route, once the train begins service, would result in a net operating loss of $3.8 billion over a period of 40 years.
The report includes four alternative buildout scenarios to the Merced-Bakersfield route.
Some of those include eliminating Merced as an initial operating stop on the bullet train route, instead aiming to connect to Gilroy from Madera after originating in Bakersfield or Palmdale. While those alternatives would be more expensive to build, the report estimates they would generate enough ridership to operate in the black.
Any alternatives to the Bakersfield to Merced initial operating segment would require approval by the state Legislature. Construction so far has been limited to three construction contracts running from just north of Madera to the Kern County community of Shafter – a span of 119 miles.
How the board reacted
The remarks from Quintero and other Merced regional officials resonated with at least one member of the High-Speed Rail Authority board.
Anthony Williams, a board member and attorney who previously served as legislative affairs secretary for Gov. Gavin Newsom, said during the meeting he would be willing to visit Merced and meet with leaders to further discuss the issue.
After the meeting, Williams and Quintero shook hands. Williams told The Merced Focus he plans to uphold that commitment, though he’s not making a judgement call on the report and whether there would be a shortfall in operating revenue.
“It’s super important that we, at a minimum, have this engagement and communication,” Williams said. “That’s what I want to do throughout the whole corridor, is (find out) what the experience is and what we can do to make these partnerships stronger.”
Board member Henry Perea, who previously served on the Fresno City Council and the Fresno County Board of Supervisors, told The Merced Focus that “everything is still on the table” right now in terms of the options in the report.
“There is no question that (the) connection of Merced is important because at some point (the bullet train will be going) to Sacramento too,” Perea said. So I think everything is on the table and it’s just giving the options to the state Legislature to make a decision on which one they see as a priority.”
“Right now, we are still full steam ahead on Bakersfield to Merced until we are told otherwise,” Perea added.
Quintero told The Merced Focus he and other local officials will be working in tandem to keep the high-speed rail station in Merced. He also mentioned there were previous suggestions to remove the Merced station from the initial operating segment, and officials were able to navigate those waters successfully.
“Merced being removed from a segment of construction, it isn’t the first time this has been proposed. And we have gone back to high speed rail, worked things out on at least, I believe, two occasions. We expect the same to happen here,” Quintero said.
On Thursday, the board also approved the issuance of invitations for bids for tracks and other required system components for the bullet train.
According to a news release, the approval opens the door for American manufacturers to competitively bid in six separate procurements, just as the rail authority nears completion of its southern railhead project in Kern County.
Materials needed to lay track along the 119-mile segment also include overhead contact system poles, fiber optic cable and ballast, with a total approved cost of $507 million spread over multiple anticipated contract awards.
Envisioned as a rail line connecting San Francisco to Los Angeles, the high speed rail project has been beset by numerous delays, ballooning costs and lawsuits ever since voters approved the $9.9 million bond measure in 2008.
The Fresno Bee in January reported the initial 2008 projection of $33 billion to build the 520-mile route from San Francisco to Los Angeles has skyrocketed to $128 billion.
Plus, last month the Trump administration terminated $4 billion in federal grants for the rail project. In response, the High-Speed Rail Authority sued the federal government. The courts have yet to decide the fate of those federal funds.
According to latest estimates, the Bakersfield to Merced route is slated to be operational by 2032.