High-speed rail, Bay Area plan to split $1.5 billion cost to supercharge rail line

http://www.mercurynews.com/california-high-speed-rail/ci_20227441/high-speed-rail-bay-area-plan-split-1

Hoping to bring the bonanza of California high-speed rail funds to the Bay Area much quicker, local and state leaders on Wednesday unveiled a strategy to split the $1.5 billion cost to electrify the Caltrain line.

The plan would pave the way for local commuter trains to zip between San Francisco and San Jose as early as 2018 and statewide bullet trains sooner than expected.

The agreement calls for the state to spend $706 million in available high-speed rail bond funds while local counties would kick in $195 million in sales tax revenues and $500 million in federal grants. The money is there, and the only thing standing in the way is approval from the state Legislature, long divided on the state's controversial plan to spend $100 billion on high-speed rail.

The idea for the Peninsula is simple: Electrify the popular 52-mile Caltrain diesel line, complete with bigger stations in San Jose, Millbrae and San Francisco. That could allow the financially struggling commuter agency to turn around its fortunes by running more trains at a cheaper cost to taxpayers.

Later, perhaps in the 2020s, the state's high-speed rail trains could share the two tracks with Caltrain if the state manages to secure the funding to link the Bay Area to the Central Valley and Southern California. Previous plans pegged statewide service to Los Angeles starting at 2034, with four tracks in the Bay Area.