HONOLULU -- Opponents of rail transit said they are close to getting the number of signatures they need to put the issue on the ballot.

On Saturday, the group called "Go Rail Go" brought out engineers from 22 firms to urge people to back the $3.7 billion rail project.

Some of the engineers speaking in favor said they are on the rail project payroll.

"We are so excited to have engineers from various firms," Go Rail Go President Maeda Timson said.

The engineers showed 40 years of studies supporting rail transit for Oahu. Engineer Jim Lyon already has a rail contract to speak to community groups.

"We are not here today to talk about the benefits about engineers. This is about our community and what we are going to help our community," said Jim Lyon with Lyon Associates Civil Engineering.

Soils engineer Robin Lim, who is employed by Geolabs Inc., is part of the design team for the rail project.

"It will generate thousands of jobs for us in the community. Many of us will benefit from it, myself included, but necessarily a lot of other people as well," Lim said.

"I am not on the project team. My firm is not on the team, but I do support rail transit. I believe it is a solution that will help with traffic gridlock," said Keith Chan, with Notkin Hawaii Engineers.

Stop Rail Now collected signatures Saturday to put the rail issue on the ballot. Stop Rail's Cliff Slater said it's no surprise engineers would come out Saturday in favor of rail.

"I never met an engineering firm that wasn't for rail. They get lots of money out of this. They are all non bid contracts. It would be strange if any of them were opposed to rail," Slater said.

University of Hawaii Engineering Professor Panos Prevedurous said as a traffic and transportation engineer he opposes the city's rail plan.

"By their own study, rail will carry somewhere between 2 and 6 percent of the trips. This is a tiny proportion, and of course, within a few years the traffic will catch up to it," Prevedurous said. "It is a lose-lose situation any way you look at it."

Stop Rail Now said that in three weeks it expects to have 45,000 signatures necessary to put the rail issue to voters.

Stop Rail Now plans to go to court next week to make sure the rail issue can be put on the November general election ballot and not have to wait for a special election Stop Rail will also ask for a restraining order to stop the city from putting out what it claims is false information about Stop Rail's efforts.