May 22, 2017 – Following the exchange between Secretary Chao and Senator Kamala D. Harris during last week’s hearing in the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, the U.S. Department of Transportation today announced Secretary Chao will sign and execute the Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) for the Caltrain Modernization Pacific Corridor Electrification Project (PCEP).
The FFGA releases $100 million that Congress appropriated for Caltrain PCEP for FY2017. In addition, this agreement will commit the Department of Transportation to prioritize an additional $408 million in future appropriations through the Federal Transit Administration’s Capital Investment Program.
After the decision, Senator Harris, a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, released the following statement:
“The Caltrain project is a great example of federal, state and local partners working together to upgrade critical infrastructure. This project will create thousands of jobs, improve our state’s economy and increase quality of life for Californians. Secretary Chao has done the right thing and committed the federal government to fulfill its obligation to see this project through completion.
I am pleased to have Secretary Chao and the Department of Transportation as partners on this critical project. I look forward to working with the Secretary and her team in the future on similar initiatives like these in California and throughout the nation.”
The PCEP would electrify 51-miles of existing Caltrain tracks between the San Francisco and San Jose corridor. The project would also increase passenger capacity for riders in a region that is experiencing rapid population growth.