California Puts Nearly $1.3 Billion Into Rail and Transit: Metrolink Cuts Averted, $750 Million for Caltrain Downtown San Francisco Extension
The Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom announced in Sacramento on November 10 that California is putting nearly $1.3 billion to work protecting passenger rail service, expanding clean transportation and better connecting communities statewide. The 28 awards, made through the California State Transportation Agency's (CalSTA) Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) and State Rail Assistance program, will help Southern California's Metrolink avoid major service cuts, advance Caltrain's extension into downtown San Francisco and bring more than 75 zero-emission buses and smaller transit vehicles to communities across the state. The announcement came as Governor Newsom and the California delegation attend the COP31 United Nations climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye.
The largest single investment goes to San Francisco: $750 million to advance The Portal, which will extend Caltrain approximately two miles from Fourth and King streets into downtown San Francisco's Salesforce Transit Center. Led by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, the project will create a major regional transit connection and establish the future San Francisco terminus for California high-speed rail. The state investment builds on local and regional funding commitments as the project advances through the Federal Transit Administration's Capital Investment Grant program.
In Southern California, a $20 million investment will help Metrolink avoid proposed service reductions of 29% on weekdays and 40% on weekends compared with its 2025 schedule. The funding will help maintain service for workers, students and families through summer 2028, as the region prepares to host the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and it comes with an expectation that Metrolink and its member agencies will work with the state to identify long-term funding solutions. The awards also introduce tap-to-pay fares using a bank card or phone across Metrolink and improve access at Downtown Burbank Station. Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said the investment helps Metrolink maintain the service riders depend on to get to work, attend school and access opportunities throughout the region, and provides stability while a more sustainable future for regional rail is built.
Other projects span the state: 21 hydrogen fuel cell electric buses will support increased service between Sacramento and Davis; new battery-electric buses in Santa Monica will complete the transition of the city's Big Blue Bus fleet to all-electric vehicles; and additional zero-emission buses and microtransit vehicles will serve Kings County, Merced County, Montebello and Marin County, among others. In the Bay Area, a second main track through Fremont and Newark will improve Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) operations, and Caltrain will pilot battery-electric trains between San Jose and Gilroy. In San Diego County, existing COASTER commuter rail service will be maintained and signals and communications along the SPRINTER line between Oceanside and Escondido will be upgraded. Aging signals and infrastructure near Davis Station will be replaced to reduce disruptions along the Capitol Corridor, and planning will improve service along the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo rail corridor ahead of the 2028 Games.
Governor Newsom said California has shown that investing in cleaner transportation can improve people's everyday lives, and that these investments fund cleaner buses, better rail connections and the train service families count on to get to work and school. California Transportation Secretary Toks Omishakin said California is turning big transit ideas into everyday trips, from Caltrain's extension into downtown San Francisco to clean buses in the Central Valley and tap-and-pay fares across Metrolink.
On funding, nearly $1.3 billion will support 19 projects through the eighth cycle of TIRCP, which since 2015 has awarded more than $12.7 billion to 171 projects statewide. An additional $66.5 million in State Rail Assistance funding will support eight projects that protect existing passenger rail service and improve rail safety, reliability and operations. Both programs receive funding through Senate Bill 1, the Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017, and TIRCP also receives funding through California's Cap-and-Invest program. The awards build on the $4.64 billion transit recovery package the Governor secured with the Legislature to help keep buses and trains running.
(Source: Office of the Governor of California)
Source: Office of the Governor of California
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Sacramento 的加州交通厅（Caltrans）总部大楼，底部入口门楣标示 Department of Transportation（GSM 固定图库，Coolcaesar 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，预裁16:9）。 / Photo: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) headquarters in Sacramento, with the Department of Transportation entrance canopy at bottom (GSM asset library; photo by Coolcaesar, CC BY-SA 4.0, pre-cropped to 16:9).
