California’s high-speed rail agency paid $592,900 in travel expenses for contracted consultants that appeared to violate state rules, contract terms or both, according to a state watchdog report released Tuesday. The Office of the Inspector General for High-Speed Rail said the California High-Speed Rail Authority paid more than $2 million in travel-related costs for four consulting contractors during fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26. Investigators reviewed approximately $1.15 million and found $680,500, or about 60 percent, lacked documented approval before the travel occurred.
The review covered contractors providing financial and commercial advice, legal services, program-delivery support, and track and overhead contact-system design. The inspector general said it substantiated allegations of inappropriate travel reimbursements. We take these findings seriously,” a spokesperson for the California High-Speed Rail Authority told Newsweek.
We are also working closely with the OIG to ensure corrective action that is both accurate and fair.” The watchdog report identified $81,000 in payments that appeared unallowable under state travel regulations and $543,400 that were not allowable under the contracts. Because some expenses fell into both categories, the combined total was $592,900. According to the report, investigators found reimbursements for first-class and other premium flights without explanations establishing their necessity.
One consultant flew a private plane from Washington, D.C., to California and proposed reimbursement based on a premium commercial fare. The authority paid it, although investigators found no documentation showing advance approval for the private aircraft or a determination that the premium fare was appropriate. The authority also reimbursed premium Uber and Lyft trips, the report said.
One luxury ride costing nearly $40 covered less than a mile in downtown Sacramento. Another consultant billed premium rides to Planet Fitness locations and, on one trip, rides to and from a restaurant, bar and nightclub between 9:40 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. Other reimbursed destinations included an escape room, a tiki bar, a Denver sushi restaurant, Folsom restaurants, and a Washington cigar lounge.
The report said authority records it reviewed contained no state-business purpose for those trips and said the late-night restaurant, bar and nightclub journeys “clearly appear to be for personal enjoyment rather than for the benefit of the State.” California voters approved the project in 2008 when its estimated cost was approximately $33 billion, according to ABC10. The authority’s final 2026 Business Plan estimates approximately $126 billion for Phase 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles/Anaheim. Its initial Merced-to-Bakersfield service is budgeted at $35.7 billion.
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