Work on California's High Speed Rail (CHSR) project may come to a halt if funding from the state's already frozen infrastructure fund is not received soon, the project's executive director said.
Executive director for the CHSR, Mehdi Morshed said that despite approval of a $9.9bn bond measure to help fund the first leg of the 800-mile system last November, the project was now out of money.
"If we do not have any money for the next few months, we can't in good conscience ask people to keep working," Morshed said.
Some private contractors performing engineering and environmental reviews have already stopped work because they haven't been paid.
The rail board has asked the state's Pooled Money Investment Board for a loan of $29.1m to cover its expenses through to the end of June. The money would be repaid once the state is able to sell some of the voter-approved bonds.
The state treasurer's office is hoping the bond market will improve enough so California can begin selling bonds again, which would generate money for infrastructure projects.
Spokesman for state treasurer Bill Lockyer said that the department would be as aggressive as possible to secure extra funding.
The CHSR is now hoping to access some of the $8bn set aside for rail projects in the federal stimulus bill signed last month by President Barack Obama.
By Daniel Garrun.
