The proposed corridor would provide new service over a route currently only served by amtraks long-distance coast starlight between SAN jose and SAN luis obispo, CA, by adding new frequencies

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) was awarded a $500,000 Cooperative Agreement from the Federal Railroad Administration's Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail (CFDA #20.326) program. The purpose of this award is to develop a Service Development Plan (SDP) for a new intercity passenger rail corridor between San Jose and San Luis Obispo, California. Key deliverables include a Project Performance Plan, existing planning materials, Statement of Work, project schedule, and project budget. The outcome will be a project description to advance the corridor to the next stage of development. This corridor is intended to provide new passenger rail service to underserved communities such as Salinas, King City, and Paso Robles, in addition to San Jose and San Luis Obispo. The award period is from March 2024 through October 2026.

The SAN jose to salinas and santa cruz to watsonville segments would be assessed and phased as part of the larger corridor the applicant plans to implement. Using the service development plan (SDP) SOW framework, the corridor sponsor will develop a project performance plan (task 2.1), existing planning and development materials task 2.1), statement of work (task 2.2), approved project schedule (task 2.3), approved project budget (task 2.4). The outcome of this project will be the project description for CID step 2, to perform the necessary work to complete an SDP. The proposed corridor will serve SAN jose and SAN luis obispo as well as communities in between including underserved communities of salinas, king city and paso robles.