Existing law authorizes the Department of Transportation to contract with Amtrak for intercity rail passenger services and provides funding for these services from the Public Transportation Account. Existing law authorizes the department, subject to approval of the Secretary of Transportation, to enter into an interagency transfer agreement under which a joint powers board assumes responsibility for administering the state-funded intercity rail service in a particular corridor and associated feeder bus services. Existing law defines the boundaries of 3 intercity rail corridors, and requires the preparation of an annual business plan for the corridor by each participating joint powers board.

This bill, at any time after an interagency transfer agreement between the department and a joint powers board has been entered into, would authorize the amendment of the agreement to provide for the extension of the affected rail corridor to provide intercity rail service beyond the defined boundaries of the corridor. The bill would require a proposed extension and intercity rail service expansion to be consistent with the State Rail Plan and to be approved through the business plan adopted by the joint powers board and then by the Secretary of Transportation, and would require the joint powers board to make a determination that the extension and intercity rail service expansion will not jeopardize or come at the expense of other existing intercity rail services.