Plans for a high-speed rail network in California’s Central Valley were delayed Saturday, but further north residents of Sacramento said they remain hopeful that plans to launch train service between the capital and San Francisco would move ahead eventually.

Currently, commuters between the cities have to switch to a bus to complete the journey.

In the Central Valley, the  Associated Press reported that project managers cited cost changes and Covid-related delays as the reasons for the postponed opening of a Bakersfield-to-Madera route, a 119-mile stretch of track through some of the state’s critical farming bowl.

Brian Kelly, the project’s chief executive officer, said he would update the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s board of directors on plans to open the route by 2023. He also said he would ask for additional funding to cover expected cost overruns from $12.4 to $13.8 billion.