California Proposition 1A, the $9.95-billion bond measure to provide the first wave of funding to run high-speed, all-electric trains between San Francisco and Los Angeles, passed Tuesday. The latest statewide count shows it was approved by 52 percent of the voters.

Under the proposed plan, trains would shoot up the Caltrain corridor to San Francisco -- right through Menlo Park and Atherton. Some residents are concerned about the impact of the project, which would require the state to dig a trench or build a berm through the heart of Menlo Park and Atherton to accommodate grade separations.

Both cities had passed resolutions against the measure, and both have joined a lawsuit to oppose it on environmental grounds.

Atherton Councilwoman Kathy McKeithen, who just won re-election to a third term, said that it's in Atherton's best interests to continue with the lawsuit. "It means they have to listen to us," she said.

Menlo Park Councilman Heyward Robinson said that Menlo Park would continue with the suit, as well. But he also said that the city would work with the state if and when the project gets under way.

Local opponents of the proposition didn't get any help from San Mateo County voters: some 61 percent of them supported the measure, according to the county's election Web site.