The economy needs Caltrain electrification

Bay Area companies — from tech to construction to health care — are all in for the fight to save Caltrain electrification.

We hope that Republicans — once the party of business and industry — will remember their roots and listen.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, representing 400 employers, sent a letter Thursday urging the Trump administration to approve the federal share of the $1.98 billion project that’s been planned for decades and is funded primarily with state and local dollars.

Approval of the $650 million grant was thought to be a slam dunk. The project was highly rated. But the grant got iced at the last minute by 14 California Republican members of Congress because the electrified line could be shared by the state’s highspeed rail boondoggle.

This is like refusing to fix our freeways because they could be used by an invading army from Mexico. (Which, by the way, is about as likely as high-speed rail ever getting to San Francisco.)

It’s just wrong. Electrifying and otherwise modernizing Caltrain is one of the most important transit improvements for this region, which is a champion job creator for the U.S. economy.

The Leadership Group is leading this fight. CEO Carl Guardino says when he put out a call for CEOs to put their names on the letter, he got more than 100 signers in 24 hours.

Electrification is critical because the diesel-fueled system that’s been in place since 1863 is — well, “1863” says it all about the technology, doesn’t it? Hi-ho Dinosaur.

Even so, the system is enormously popular. It runs at 125 percent of capacity, with standing room only at rush hours. Ridership has almost tripled in a decade to 65,000 daily trips now. By allowing for more, longer and faster trains, electrification can nearly double capacity.

This isn’t just about the local economy, however. The project will result in some 9,600 jobs across America, with manufacturing and other contracts in cities from Richmond, Virginia to (who can forget) Humble, Texas.

This aligns with a campaign promise of President Trump’s. But on another promise, the project unexpectedly hits a glitch.

Trump said he’d make huge investments in infrastructure, but his budget slashes transportation spending. It turns out he only wants to fund interstate projects.

This makes no sense. A national transportation system isn’t just state to state. Great systems worldwide get national support because commerce depends on transportation not just over long distances but for commuters, business travel and delivering goods and services.

Great countries need great transportation. The Caltrain line serves 1.6 million jobs between San Jose and San Francisco. Let’s make it better.