Rail chief Toru Hamayasu is on a plane today, headed to the nation’s capital to continue the push for federal funding.

Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation spokeswoman Jeanne Mariani-Belding tells Inside Honolulu that Hamayasu will meet with Federal Transit Administration head honcho Peter Rogoff this week.

The discussion will include timing of the full funding grant agreement, which rail planners are hoping they’ll receive later this year. That would give the city assurances it will receive $1.55 billion from the feds, enough to cover about 30 percent of construction costs.

The approval to enter into the final design stage, just handed down last week, will probably come up too.