The head of the California High-Speed Rail Authority has quit, stepping down late Wednesday while the agency's board was partway through a two-day meeting.
Chief Executive Ian Choudri said in an emailed resignation, a copy of which CalMatters obtained, that he needed to focus on "important personal and family priorities." In the letter he wrote that leading the authority had been one of the most meaningful parts of his career and that he had led the bullet train project's "turnaround into a successful program."
It was not clear when his last day would be, and he did not answer CalMatters' requests for comment.
A troubled tenure
The board hired Choudri in August 2024. His time in charge included budget strain, delays, transparency complaints and the loss of $4 billion in federal funding under the Trump administration, CalMatters reported.
Last month, a probe found that the authority's consultants had flown first class, taken premium car rides and billed taxpayers for trips that included a nightclub, a cigar lounge and restaurants, sometimes at Choudri's request. Many of those trips went to Folsom, where he has a home.
After that probe, contracts under $25 million were made to need sign-off from the agency's in-house lawyers first. A source at the authority told CalMatters, on condition of anonymity, that the board had spent weeks weighing further discipline, including possibly firing him. The board had also been due to decide this week whether he qualified for a potential $25,000 bonus.
