I seem to recall that a year or two ago or so, UP spurned an offer by the State of California to cooperatively fund exactly such a project. It was intimated that the reason for UP's rejection was their perception that the state would use the financial participation as leverage to extend the Capitol Corridor beyond Auburn to Reno/Sparks. Seems to me it would be a win-win to do so. Removing the bottleneck would allow more intermodal traffic volume and allow passenger operations without negatively impacting (actually increasing, given demand) UP's freight revenue. It would get more truck traffic off of the I-80 corridor and give the Bay Area and Sacramento better access to Reno for skiing and gambling. Determined auto enthusiasts would also benefit from the lessening of I-80 congestion as well. May be win-win-win.