(a) The department may enter into contracts with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation under Section 403(b) of the Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 to provide commuter and intercity passenger rail services. The contracts may include, but are not limited to, the extension of intercity passenger rail services or the upgrading of commuter rail services.

(b) The department may contract with railroad corporations for the use of tracks and other facilities and the provision of passenger services on terms and conditions as the parties may agree.

(c) The department may construct, acquire, or lease, and improve and operate, rail passenger terminals and related facilities that provide intermodal passenger services along the following corridors: the San Diego-Los Angeles-Santa Barbara corridor, the San Francisco-San Jose-Monterey corridor, the Los Angeles-Riverside-San Bernardino-Calexico corridor, the San Jose-Oakland-Sacramento-Reno corridor, the Los Angeles-Bakersfield-Fresno-Stockton-Sacramento-Oakland corridor, and the Los Angeles-Santa Barbara-Oakland-Sacramento-Redding corridor.

(d) The department may enter into a contract with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation to provide additional trains over the San Joaquin route running between Bakersfield and Oakland and to extend the existing route to Sacramento.

(e) The Transportation Agency of Monterey County may be a party to any contract entered into under this section between the department and the National Railroad Passenger Corporation for passenger rail service along the San Francisco-San Jose-Monterey corridor.

(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 438, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.)