Caltrain adopts capital, operating budgets for FY2016

Caltrain's board last week approved capital and operating budgets for the California commuter rail's 2016 fiscal year.

The railroad's $139.2 million operating budget includes $19.7 million in funding from its three partners, comprising the San Mateo Transit District, the Santa Clara Vally Transportation Authority and the City and County of San Francisco, Caltrain officials said in a statement.

Since the operating budget does not include a dedicated source of funding for the agency, a large portion of its expenses must be paid out of the partner agencies' general funds, Caltrain officials said. At the moment, passenger fares cover 60 percent of the commuter railroad's operating costs.

Funded by a combination of federal, regional and state grants, Caltrain's $200.8 million capital budget includes funding for the Caltrain Modernization Program, which will electrify the railroad by 2020. The capital budget also includes $5 million from the commuter railroad's partner agencies.

Additional items included in the capital budget include the replacement of signal equipment, the South San Francisco station improvement project and the replacement of the Los Gatos Creek Bridge.