Why are taxpayers flying CA high-speed rail consultants to work?

Key points

• Records show three of six key SYSTRA|TYPSA consultants never relocated to Sacramento as promised, with taxpayers paying over $76,000 for out-of-state travel between 2024 and 2026.
• Robert Kennah, a principal-in-charge, made 25 trips from Denver to Sacramento from July 2024 to May 2025, billing taxpayers more than $31,000.
• The rail authority paid four consulting contractors about $252.7 million over two fiscal years, while the project has laid no high-speed track and lost $4 billion in federal funding.

Records obtained by CBS California show that three of six key personnel on a $131.2 million California high-speed rail consulting contract never relocated to Sacramento as promised. Instead, taxpayers paid to fly them from Texas and Denver, in some cases almost weekly, according to travel claims and airline receipts reviewed from July 2024 to May 2025.

The California High-Speed Rail Authority paid more than $76,000 for key personnel to travel from out of state between 2024 and 2026, an inspector general found. The project has spent over $15 billion and still has not laid a mile of high-speed rail track, recently lost $4 billion in federal funding, and could run out of money by the end of 2027.

Consultant travel and billing

Robert Kennah, SYSTRA's principal-in-charge, was one of six original key consultants who signed an April 2024 letter committing to work full time in Sacramento. Records show he flew from his Denver home to Sacramento two to five times a month, with 25 trips and more than $31,000 in airfare, hotels and ground transportation billed to taxpayers. After the rail authority's contract manager reminded SYSTRA of its Sacramento staffing requirements in December 2024, trips dropped to about once a month but continued through May 2025.

Shortly after Ian Choudri became CEO in 2024, Kennah's hourly billing rate rose nearly 23% to $505.91, even as California paid for his Denver trips. The contract lists Sacramento as Kennah's office and specifies a lower rate, but after Choudri took over, Kennah consistently billed the higher rate, including when records indicate he was in Sacramento. The authority did not answer specific questions about the rate, who approved it or Kennah's eligibility.

We take all matters related to contract compliance, governance, and billing seriously, and we address them through established internal review and oversight processes.

— Heather Hornyak, SYSTRA|TYPSA director of corporate communications

Oversight and performance

In July 2025, SYSTRA|TYPSA received a "Very Good" performance rating, and the contract manager called its work "superb." The June 2025 invoice included a $318,048.57 performance-fee adjustment. The investigation does not establish that the firm's designs were deficient or that the adjustment was improper, but it raises questions about whether the authority evaluated only delivered work or also staffing and travel commitments.

The authority initially prepared a presentation for its board that included a pie chart showing about $252.7 million paid to four consulting contractors over two fiscal years, with about $2 million for travel. The inspector general reviewed roughly half of that travel spending and found more than half was unallowable under state regulations or contract terms. The pie chart and contract-by-contract payment totals were removed from the final presentation. An authority spokesperson said in an email that "The information was streamlined to keep the focus clear for the Board and the public."