Two major projects completing the ring of rail around San Francisco Bay advanced in recent weeks.
The $12.75B project to bring BART from Berryessa to downtown San Jose and Santa Clara broke ground. The project is now estimated to start rail service in 2036. The groundbreaking took place before VTA received a commitment from the federal government about the level of federal funding. VTA is seeking over $6Billion from FTA and could find out as early as next month.
The groundbreaking and the pursuit of major federal funding is taking place as the region wrestles with how or whether the BART system as a whole will have the operating funding to keep running, with Santa Clara County leaders negotiating forcefully in debates about authorizing legislation for a regional funding measure that would ensure continued BART and Caltrain service. VTA is committed to cover the cost for BART service in its county, but riders expect rail service into and out of the county as well.
A few weeks ago in May, the federal government committed $3.4 billion to the project to connect Caltrain, and eventually High Speed Rail, to the Salesforce Transbay terminal. The station opened for bus service in 2018, and could see trains in 2032 according to the timeline Transbay Joint Powers Authority.
The federal funding represents about 41% of the overall $8.2 billion cost for the project. About a third of the funding for the project has yet to be identified. The project was recently renamed “the Portal”, from the more prosaic “Downtown Extension.”