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Chao heeded their arguments, and deferred the grant in a letter to Caltrain which stated that the FTA needed "additional time to complete review of this significant commitment of Federal resources". Caltrain had expected Chao to approve the grant by March 1, which is normally a ''pro-forma'' step done after the thirty-day comment period for a highly-rated project, and had already awarded construction contracts.<ref name="contractextension"/><ref name="SV">{{citeweb|url=http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/24/trump-chao-get-an-earful-on-caltrain-funds/|title=Trump, Chao get an earful on Caltrain funds from Silicon Valley leaders|publisher=''East Bay Times''|author=Richards, Gary|date=March 24, 2017|accessdate=March 29, 2017}}</ref> [[Balfour Beatty Construction]] and [[Stadler Rail]] had already begun preparations to upgrade the existing tracks and build electrical trainsets, respectively. In response, Caltrain negotiated an emergency four-month extension at the cost of $20 million.<ref name="contractextension"/>
In response to the grant deferral, various local officials traveled to [[Washington D.C.]] in order to lobby federal officials to release the money. San Jose Mayor [[Sam Liccardo]] met with Department of Transportation officials, urging them to upgrade a system that "was built under the presidency of [[Abraham Lincoln]]". Additionally, more than 120 Silicon Valley business leaders sent a letter to Chao, asking her to explain "the last-minute attempt to derail
==Proposal==
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