Californians for High Speed Rail is upping the ante with a grassroots effort to bring together proponents of the bullet train.

The nonprofit group, which was founded in 2005, on Wednesday will begin its statewide organizing effort to create stronger collective support group for the high speed rail project.

This is in response to this year’s growing opposition to the bullet train proposal, the group said. Voters in 2008 passed a bond measure to begin building the high speed rail train, which will zip passengers from San Francisco to Los Angeles in a few hours. 

With a bigger coalition of supporters, the group plans to hold petition drives that will “keep fighting for high speed rail” as well as campaign for federal funding for the project.

“As HSR project planning ramps up across the state, there is no better time than now to bring together HSR supporters,” said Brian Stanke, executive director of the Californians for High Speed Rail. “Together we can be better advocates for the successful construction of a HSR system that is profitable, sustainable and passenger-friendly.”