I would think it's going to take a lot more than just "Tie upgrades" to be able to run heavy freight or Modern passenger trains on this line. More like complete replacement of all rail, ties, ballast, plus connections and signaling.

No funding has been secured, and a lot of these projections for ridership increases are tied to High speed rail, BART to Livermore, and Capital Corridor service increases.

I don't see this happening any time soon.

Oh, and there is also a big push to put a biking/hiking trail through the canyon too.