SEPTA officials, though, anticipate ridership estimates for the project — 9,500 more trips each day than the Norristown High Speed Line now handles — will qualify them for a New Starts grant through the Federal Transit Administration, possibly by 2021. That will likely cover no more than half the project’s cost, and SEPTA is in the paradoxical position of having to make progress on the development to qualify for the money to pay for it. SEPTA must complete a final environmental impact statement, due late this year or early 2020, and 30 percent of the engineering work. SEPTA also must have $600 million committed before applying for federal funds. SEPTA is paying for the development work with a $20 million grant received more than a decade ago.