Ian Choudri, the chief executive of the California High-Speed Rail Authority since August 2024, resigned late on Wednesday, October 28, and the authority's Board of Directors confirmed the departure at its meeting on Thursday, October 29, appointing California's Director of Finance, Joe Stephenshaw, as interim chief in closed session. Choudri's resignation, effective immediately according to Associated Press reporting, cited 'important personal and family priorities.' It lands in the middle of a travel-spending scandal, a fresh inspector general warning that the project could run out of cash by December 2027, and a price tag that has climbed from the $33 billion to $45 billion voters were quoted in 2008 to $126 billion for Phase 1 alone in the authority's 2026 business plan.

Source: CBS News Sacramento, Oct. 29, 2026

In a letter to employees obtained by CBS News Sacramento, Choudri wrote: 'This was not an easy decision. Leading the Authority has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding chapters of my professional life. Over the past two years, this project has evolved from one facing significant challenges to one that is now irreversible and on track to deliver the first true high-speed rail system in North America.' A spokesperson for Governor Gavin Newsom's office said: 'The Governor is committed to delivering the nation's first high-speed rail system and to protecting California taxpayers every single step of the way. That's why he brought fresh leadership onto the High-Speed Rail Authority Board this year, with a clear charge to demand accountability for every dollar and transparency the public can count on. The Governor welcomes today's announcements as an important step in that direction.'

Source: Resignation letter and governor's office statement via CBS News Sacramento, Oct. 29, 2026

The inspector general report that set this in motion

Choudri's resignation follows a report from the authority's Office of Inspector General (OIG), which found that allegations the authority failed to comply with state regulations and contract requirements when reimbursing consultants' travel expenses were substantiated. Between 2024 and 2026, the report found, 60 percent of the reimbursed travel — $680,500 — did not comply with state regulations requiring advance approval, and $592,000 of the unapproved expenses were determined to be 'unallowable.' The reimbursements included premium airfares, Uber and Lyft upgrades, and trips to gyms, escape rooms, cigar lounges, tiki bars and private residences with no documentation of a state business purpose, as well as rideshare cancellation fees, same-day flight bookings and travel claims lacking receipts.

Source: CHSRA Office of Inspector General report via CBS News Sacramento, Oct. 29, 2026

CalMatters reported that state investigators found consultants flew first class, hailed premium rides and travelled to a nightclub, a cigar lounge and restaurants on the taxpayers' dime, sometimes at Choudri's request, and that many trips involved travelling to Folsom, the Sacramento suburb where Choudri has a home, sometimes after hours. Whistleblowers separately provided CBS California Investigates with expense records showing consultants billed taxpayers for late-night rides from a street in Folsom where Choudri owns a home, along with rides to or from nearby restaurants and bars. One legal consultant travelled between Denver and Sacramento 30 times in a year, charging the state $86,500 in 'travel time' payments and an additional $40,800 in reimbursements. In a testy meeting earlier this month, board members accused the firms of using the agency as a 'piggy bank,' CalMatters reported, and on Wednesday authority staff reported the consulting firms have repaid nearly $1.3 million to the agency.

Source: CalMatters investigation, Oct. 29, 2026

Earlier this month, the board had already voted to limit Choudri's contracting authority, requiring the authority's in-house legal counsel to sign off first on contracts under $25 million, and it had been weighing additional disciplinary action — including possible termination — for weeks, according to a source inside the authority who spoke to CalMatters on condition of anonymity. The board was also due to decide at this week's meeting whether Choudri qualified for a potential $25,000 performance bonus. The Associated Press reported the departure also came after pushback over more than $250 million spent on four consulting firms between 2024 and 2026, with the board expecting those firms to reimburse the state for unapproved expenses.

Source: CalMatters and Associated Press reporting, Oct. 29, 2026

A project whose price tag keeps climbing

California voters approved the bullet train in 2008, backing a roughly $10 billion bond for a system then expected to cost between $33 billion and $45 billion in total and to connect San Francisco to Los Angeles by 2020. Construction began in 2015 and has been beset by delays and cost overruns ever since. The authority's 2026 business plan puts the cost of completing Phase 1 at $126 billion; CalMatters reports the plan says the project could now cost between $126 billion and $231 billion, with the current 171-mile leg between Merced and Bakersfield under construction and a full buildout expected by 2040. The Associated Press puts the initial Bakersfield-to-Merced segment alone at $36 billion, with completion not expected until 2033; the inspector general separately said the authority failed to make clear in its plan that the Central Valley segment is now expected to be completed by 2034 at a cost likely exceeding $40 billion.

Source: CHSRA 2026 Business Plan via CBS News Sacramento; Associated Press; CalMatters, Oct. 29, 2026

The money problem is not theoretical. In July, the inspector general warned the project could run out of money as soon as December 2027 unless the state borrows billions to keep construction on schedule. Under Choudri, the authority also lost $4 billion in federal funding under President Donald Trump's administration after repeatedly missing deadlines in the funding agreement to buy trains; the state initially sued over the funding, then abruptly dropped the lawsuit in December 2025, calling the administration 'not a reliable partner' and turning to private investors instead. Governor Newsom has committed $1 billion a year from the state's climate fund toward the project until 2045, CalMatters reported.

Source: CalMatters, Oct. 29, 2026

A $772 million train contract, approved the same week

The leadership change did not pause the program's biggest decisions. On Wednesday, the board unanimously approved a $772.1 million contract with Germany-based Siemens Mobility Inc. to design, build and test three seven-car high-speed bullet trains by 2030, plus up to $63.7 million in import duties and tariffs because the trains will be designed and built in Germany. The vote came three years after the agency first opened bidding for six trainsets in August 2023 to qualify for more than $3 billion in federal grants — funding it ultimately lost after missed deadlines. Choudri, hired in August 2024 after decades in transportation engineering including high-speed rail work in France and Spain, had made cutting consultant costs, attracting private investment and speeding up contracting the centre of his tenure, the authority's chief of staff Mark Tollefson said in a Wednesday presentation.

Source: CalMatters, Oct. 29, 2026

Legal pressure from the Central Valley

The resignation also lands as the authority faces a new fight over the Central Valley segment itself. To save money, the authority proposed shrinking the Merced-to-Bakersfield segment by 9 miles and moving the downtown Merced station to South Merced — a move critics say violates state law. This month, the Central Valley coalition Community Alliance for a Sustainable Economy sued, arguing the authority was acting as if the relocation had been approved when it has not. 'This challenge follows an unlawful pattern of behavior by the HSRA — proposing to relocate the downtown Merced station, then acting as if that move has been approved when it has not,' the complaint said, as quoted by CalMatters. California Rural Legal Assistance has separately threatened legal action, alleging track sections were unlawfully rerouted without legislative approval, the Associated Press reported.

Source: CalMatters and Associated Press, Oct. 29, 2026

Why this lands in the Central Valley — and for Punjabi readers

The only part of this system actually being built runs through the Central Valley — Merced, Fresno and Bakersfield, along the Highway 99 corridor where a large share of California's Punjabi farming, trucking and logistics families live and work. For those communities the rail fight is not abstract: it is about which towns get stations, whose land the line crosses, how long construction disrupts valley roads and farm operations, and whether a project now priced at $126 billion and up delivers the valley connection that was promised in 2008. The travel-spending findings matter locally for the same reason — the inspector general's questionable trips were billed to the same public pot that is supposed to finish the valley segment before the money runs out in late 2027.

What happens next

Joe Stephenshaw, the state's finance director, now runs the authority on an interim basis while the board — whose chair, Steve Kawa, said Thursday it has been empowered by Governor Newsom to bring 'stronger accountability, oversight, and transparency to the project' — decides on permanent leadership; no search timetable was announced in Thursday's reports. The immediate tests are unchanged: keep the Merced–Bakersfield construction funded past the inspector general's December 2027 cash warning, defend the Merced station lawsuit, and deliver the Siemens trains by 2030. Awaaz Punjab will follow the board's next meeting and the search for a permanent chief executive.