The chief executive of the agency heading California’s ambitious Bay Area to L.A. bullet-train project is stepping down from the position as it shifts from policy to operations.
Brian Kelly, who has served as CEO of the California High-Speed Rail Authority since 2018, submitted a formal letter of resignation Thursday.
Kelly inherited a mired down and politically unpopular project when he took the reins of CAHSR.
Under his leadership, the embattled high-speed rail project has seen more than its fair share of successes.
The project just received its biggest federal boost yet in the form of a $3.1 billion grant from the Biden Administration, which will be instrumental in launching the service’s “initial operating segment.”
That 171-mile stretch connecting Merced to Bakersfield is expected to begin operation around 2030 and construction has been moving along steadily with a number of massive infrastructure projects, including bridges, viaducts and grade separations, completed just in the last 12 months.
As of October 2023, the California High-Speed Rail has completed 43 structures, started work on 32 more and completed 56 miles of guideway. Work is beginning to expand from the current 119 miles of active construction to the full 171 miles of double-track electrified rail that will comprise the initial operating segment.
The vast majority of the project has received full environmental clearance, with only a handful of remaining sections outstanding. The full Bay Area to Los Angeles segment that comprises “Phase 1” could have environment clearance by early this year.
New financial data released Thursday showed that the construction project has produced $18 billion in economic output, $7 billion in labor income and construction jobs in the Central Valley grew from 2,500 in 2018 to to 12,200 in 2023.
But the biggest turning of the tide for Kelly may be public opinion. Recent polling by UC Berkeley found that the majority of Californians still support funding the high-speed rail project, even on its current timeline.
The project also has the support of California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who was less enthused about the ballooning cost of the project when he assumed office in 2019. He has since come around and is one of the project’s most ardent and vocal boosters.
In his resignation letter addressed to CAHSR Chair Tom Richards, Kelly said the Authority was in a strong position to advance to the next stage of operations.
“My goal when I took this position in 2018 was to help stabilize the organization and improve performance such that policymakers would once again consider investing in the project. While there is more work to do, this goal has largely been achieved,” his letter reads in part.
Kelly previously spent decades working in transportation and infrastructure policy. He says his resignation opens the door for someone to take the helm whose expertise lies in passenger rail operations.
At the time of his appointment six years ago, Kelly indicated he only intended on holding the position for a few years. The job is tasking and Kelly described it as the most challenging of his 30-year public service career. He also called it the most satisfying.
Kelly gave no exact timeline for when he planned to exit the Authority, instead saying he was committed to helping the board with a smooth transition to new leadership.