Opponents said the vote doesn't diminish their determination to stop the project.

Fukuda, who watched the Senate action online, said he was bothered to see Democratic legislators celebrating their victory moments after the vote. "It's easy for them to cheer, but there are thousands of people who are not going to sleep well tonight," he said. "We'll hold legislators accountable."

While Fukuda was bitter about Rubio's vote, he was delighted that four Democratic senators defied the party leadership and Gov. Jerry Brown.

"It was good to see the three senators who have dealt with this issue the longest and the most are the ones who voted against it," Fukuda said of Mark DeSaulnier, Alan Lowenthal and Joe Simitian, who have been longtime skeptics of the rail authority's plans.

Fukuda said he and his co-plaintiffs are prepared to continue the legal fight against the project: "We're staying the course."

Also disappointed was Anja Raudabaugh, executive director of the Madera County Farm Bureau, which is carrying on its own lawsuit against the rail authority along with the Merced County Farm Bureau, Madera County and several other groups.

"What's interesting is that with all the intensive bloviating going on, everyone admitted there are problems with the project," Raudabaugh said. "But all they're doing is punting the problems to the Central Valley."

Raudabaugh said she and her farm bureau board are frustrated because they don't believe the rail authority has taken seriously their concerns about the train system's potential effects on agriculture.

The Madera County suit challenges the authority's approval in May of an environmental impact report for the Merced-Fresno portion of the proposed line. It focuses largely on claims that the agency did not adequately assess the effects on agriculture of building and operating the train system, nor does it provide sufficient measures to make up for those effects.

Raudabaugh said she had hoped the Senate vote would kill the project and render the lawsuit unnecessary. Now, "the only avenue we have left is the legal avenue," she said.

Perea said he hoped the vote would pave the way for opponents and the rail authority to work together to solve problems, including "dealing fairly and equitably with the property owners who are going to be affected."

"Projects like this are always going to have those who support it and those who don't. But it's time to band together as Californians to make this project successful. It benefits all of us to make it a success."