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Caltrain

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Caltrain <tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;"> </td></tr>
Locale San Francisco to Gilroy, California
Transit type Commuter rail<tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">Began operation</th><td>1987</td></tr><tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">No. of lines</th><td>1</td></tr><tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">No. of stations</th><td>32</td></tr><tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">Daily ridership</th><td>32,031(avg. weekday)</td></tr><tr><th style="white-space: nowrap;">Track gauge</th><td>4 ft 81⁄2 in (1435 mm) (standard gauge)</td></tr>
Operator Amtrak

Caltrain is a commuter rail line on the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley in the United States. It is currently operated under contract by Amtrak and funded jointly by City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District, and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority through the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. Caltrain's northern terminus is in eastern San Francisco, California, at 4th and King streets, and its southern terminus is in Gilroy, California. Trains operate out of San Francisco and San Jose on a half hourly basis every weekday, with more frequent service provided during commute hours, along with three daily commute-hour round trips extending to Gilroy. Also, hourly train service is provided during weekends and holidays. Weekday ridership in February 2006 was 32,031 boardings.<ref name="ridership">Caltrain Ridership</ref> <ref name="SFCityScape">San Francisco CITYSCAPE - Speed Kills (see bottom entry)</ref>

As of 2006, Caltrain has 29 regular stops, one football-only stop (Stanford Stadium), and two weekend-only stops (Broadway and Atherton). Caltrain operates a mix of 96 local, limited, and express weekday trains, with 32 and 28 hourly local trains on Saturdays and Sundays, respectively.

Contents

[edit] History

Caltrain Ridership by year
Average Weekday, Survey done every February.<ref name="ridership"/>
2002 28,400
2003 26,245
2004 24,793
2005 28,393
2006 32,031
Image:Caltrain train 1.jpg
Image:Caltrain accelerating towards San Francisco.jpeg
Caltrain's San Francisco terminal
See Peninsula Commute for more information on commuter rail service before Caltrain.

The original Peninsula railroad corridor between San Francisco and San Jose was constructed in 1863 by the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road, which was purchased by Southern Pacific in 1870.

Under Southern Pacific's ownership, the line was double tracked in 1904 and had experienced record ridership during World War II. After the war, the ridership slowly declined with the rise of automobile use. In 1977, SP filed a petition with the state Public Utilities Commission to discontinue the commuter operation due to the ongoing operating losses.

To preserve the commuter service, Caltrans in 1980 contracted SP and began to subsidize the operation. During the Caltrans' administration, Caltrans purchased new locomotives and rolling stock which replaced the SP equipment in 1985, upgraded stations, introduced shuttle buses to nearby employers, and rebranded the operation as CalTrain.

In 1987, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB) was formed to manage the line. Subsequently San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties commissioned Earth Metrics Inc. to prepare an Environmental Impact Report to address right-of-way acquisition and expansion of operations. With state and local funding, the PCJPB purchased the railroad right of way between San Francisco and San Jose from SP in 1991. In the following year, PCJPB took over the full responsibility for Caltrain operations and selected Amtrak as the contract operator. Also, PCJPB extended the Caltrain service from San Jose to Gilroy, with a direct connection to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) Light Rail at Tamien Station in San Jose.

In July 1995, Caltrain became accessible to passengers in wheelchairs. Five months later, Caltrain increased the bicycle limit to 24 per train, making the service attractive to commuters in bicycle-friendly cities such as San Francisco and Palo Alto.

In July 1997 the current logo was adopted, and the official name became Caltrain.

In 1998, the San Francisco Municipal Railway extended the N Judah Muni Metro line from Market Street to the San Francisco Caltrain Station at 4th and King streets, providing a direct Caltrain-Muni Metro connection for the first time. A year later, VTA extended its Light Rail from north Santa Clara to the Caltrain station in Mountain View. In June 2003, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain systems were interconnected at the Millbrae station just south of the San Francisco International Airport.<ref name="caltrain history">History - Caltrain Milestones</ref>

[edit] Baby Bullet Express Service

In June 2004, Caltrain finished its two-year CTX (Caltrain Express) project to implement a new express service called the Baby Bullet. The project entailed the construction of new bypass tracks in Brisbane and Sunnyvale as well as a new centralized traffic control system. The Baby Bullet trains reduced travel time by stopping only at five stations between San Francisco and the San Jose Diridon Station. The faster express trains could overtake slower local trains at the two locations where bypass track were installed. As a result, the travel time between San Francisco and San Jose for the express service is 57 minutes, a savings of 33 minutes compared to the 1 hour and 30 minutes for the local service. While the top speed of the Baby Bullets is the same as the slower local trains, fewer stops allow the expresses to maintain their top speed of 79mph for a much longer duration, cutting travel time significantly. In addition, the CTX project included the purchase of new Bombardier BiLevel Coach trainsets along with MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives for the express service.<ref name="Baby Bullet">Baby Bullet Information</ref> The Baby Bullets have proved to be extremely popular with riders.

Starting from May 2005, Caltrain implemented a series of fare increases and schedule changes in response to a projected budget shortfall. The frequency of the popular Baby Bullet express trains was increased in order to bring in additional revenues; two express trains were added in May and another ten were added in August. New Baby Bullet stops, also known as Pattern B stops, was also introduced. Another increase of US$0.25 in basic fare was implemented in January 2006. All these efforts helped stablizing Caltrain budget and greatly increasing the daily ridership from 28,000s to 32,000s.<ref name="SF Business Times">"Caltrain Ridership Increases", San Francisco Business Times, 10 Nov. 2005.</ref>

[edit] Major future service improvements and expansions

[edit] Downtown San Francisco extension

An additional 1.3 mile (2.1 km) tunnel has been proposed to extend Caltrain from the current northern terminus in San Francisco at 4th and King to a rebuilt Transbay Terminal<ref name="Transbay Transit">Transbay Transit Center</ref>, where it would be much closer to the job center of San Francisco and connect directly with BART, Muni, crossbay AC Transit buses, and long-distance buses. As of August 2006, the Caltrain extension portion of the Transbay Terminal project is scheduled<ref name="Transbay schedule">Transbay project timeline</ref> to begin construction in 2012 and open in 2019.

[edit] Dumbarton Rail

Caltrain has been chosen to provide commuter rail service on a to-be-rebuilt Dumbarton rail corridor across the San Francisco Bay between the Peninsula and Alameda County in the East Bay. This project will add four stations to the Caltrain system: Union City, Fremont-Centerville, Newark, and Menlo Park/East Palo Alto. Also, the two obsolete swing bridges along the corridor will be replaced.<ref name="Dumbarton Rail Corridor">Dumbarton Rail Corridor</ref> Currently, with most of its funding secured, Dumbarton Rail is scheduled to start construction in 2006 and begin service in 2012.<ref name="Examiner">Winegarner, Beth. "Finish date for Dumbarton rail plan pushed back to 2012", The Examiner, 28 Jun. 2006. </ref>

[edit] South of Gilroy extension

Caltrain also has plans for south of Gilroy extension. This project would extend Caltrain service into Monterey County, just southwest of Santa Clara County. The planned terminus is Salinas with intermediate stops at Pajaro (Watsonville Junction) and Castroville. Depending on state and federal funding availability and a possible local sales tax measure, this service could start in 2010. This project is managed by Transportation Agency for Monterey County (TAMC). TAMC had recently published Draft Environment Impact Report (DEIR)<ref>Caltrain Monterey County Extension Draft Environment Impact Report (DEIR) (PDF File)</ref> for this project. This would re-establish rail service last provided by Southern Pacific's Del Monte.

Service to Hollister along a spur separate from the Monterey County extension has also been proposed.<ref name="FTA Appendix A">Federal Transit Administation - Authorizations for Final Design and Construction</ref>

Weekend service, especially during the summer, could also be provided to Santa Cruz via Watsonville.<ref name="Santa Cruz C RTC">Transit Planning for Santa Cruz County - Rail Projects</ref> So-called "Suntan Special" trains would be a day tourist and railfan success, but even public purchase of the line from Watsonville to Santa Cruz is being fought by certain activists from nearby Aptos[citation needed].

[edit] Electrification

The proposed caltrain electrification project would convert the entire caltrain system from the current diesel-electric locomotive power source to a fully electric rolling stock. Although the project has an estimated total cost of $600-865 million<ref>Parsons Transportation Group, Federal Transportation Administration, Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Dan Bracken Inc., Electric Research and Management Inc., ERM, Exponent, Far Western Anthropological Research Group, Hortiscience Inc., JRP Historical Consulting Services, and Moore Iacofano Goltsman (March 2004). Caltrain Electrification Program Environmental Assessment/Draft Environmental Impact Report. San Carlos, CA: Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board.</ref>, some of these costs can be offset by savings of $1-2 million a year in fuel and other saved costs. Electrified vehicles require less maintenance, but electrification will increase required track maintenance by approximately the same dollar amount, at least initially. In addition to the San Francisco extension, electrification can reduce noise and improve service times. Caltrain plans to complete electrification by 2012<ref>Caltrain Electrification Plan</ref>, since at least partial electrification is required for any downtown extension.

During the latest development, the electrification project was split into two phases, with first phase between San Fransicso and Tamien in San Jose, and second phase between Tamien and Gilroy.<ref>Caltrain Electrification Status Report, April 2006 Board Meeting (MS PowerPoint file)</ref> The capital cost, excluding electric rolling stock, for the first phase is estimated at $471 Million (2006 dollars). Options for the new electric rolling stock include electric locomotives with new or overhauled passenger cars, or electric multiple units.

[edit] Wireless Internet Access

Caltrain has announced that wireless internet access will be available to passengers, at no additional charge, by the end of 2007.<ref>Caltrain WiFi FAQs</ref> . The wireless protocol used will be WiMAX IEEE 802.16.

[edit] Stations

Image:Caltrain map.svg

(with mile posts; as of August 2005; Regular Weekday Stops; A,B indicates express train stops patterns; Traditional Peak is traveling north in the morning, and south in the afternoon)

[edit] Former stations

[edit] Permanent closure

[edit] Partial closures

Weekday scheduled trains were suspended at these stations on August 2005 as a cost-saving measure:

  • 15.2 - Broadway, Burlingame - weekends service retained; weekday peak-hours bus shuttle to Millbrae.<ref name="Broadway Shuttle">

Caltrain Broadway - Millbrae Shuttle</ref>

[edit] Ticketing

Ticketing of Caltrain service is provided based upon the number of zones traveled (see above). Tickets must be purchased before boarding, and will be checked at various times during travel. Discounts are available for 10-ride tickets and monthly passes. Seniors, children and the disabled ride for roughly half price (varies depending on the ticket). One-way fares are as follows (as of 2006-01-01):

  • Within one zone: $2.25
  • Between two zones: $3.75
  • Between three zones: $5.25
  • Between four zones: $6.75
  • Between five zones: $8.25
  • Between six zones: $9.75

The zone-based approach to ticketing requires little infrastructure at the stations but can be disproportionately expensive for passengers only traveling a few stops and crossing a zone boundary. For example, to travel from Sunnyvale to Lawrence (2.0 miles / 3.2 km) requires a $3.75 ticket, while traveling from Millbrae to Redwood City (11.7 miles / 18.8 km) requires only a $2.25 ticket.

[edit] Locomotives and rolling stock

Caltrain train at Mountain View; F40PH Leading with Gallery Cars

Image:Caltrain Baby Bullet.JPG

[edit] Locomotives

Caltrain uses (or has used) the following locomotives:

Builder Model Locomotive Numbers Years of Service Notes
EMD F40PH-2 902, 903, 907, 910, 914 1985-Present Overhauled by Alstom in 1999.
EMD F40PH-2CAT 900, 901, 904-906, 908, 909, 911-913, 915-919 1985-Present, Originally F40PH-2s, overhauled by Alstom in 1999, separate HEP generators were added.
MPI (Boise) F40PH-2C 920-922 1998-Present No. 920 is the Operation Lifesaver unit.
MPI (Boise) MP36PH-3C 923-928 2003-Present Primarily used for "Baby Bullet" service.
EMD GP9 500, 501;
Southern Pacific 3187 		2000-Present;
1980-1985 		Used for Work Train/Yard Switcher service. 500 and 501 were Southern Pacific 3833 and 3842. They were retired in 2005, but 500 was reactivated in October 2006. Southern Pacific 3187 received Caltrain's prototype paint sceme in 1980 before the arrival HEP equipment in 1985.
EMD MP15DC 503, 504 2003-Present Used for Work Train/Yard Switcher service

Caltrain also leased a number of Amtrak F40PH's in 1998 and 1999 while Caltrain's F40PH-2's were being overhauled.

[edit] Locomotive Names

  • 900 San Francisco*
  • 901 San Jose*
  • 902 San Mateo*
  • 903 Santa Clara*
  • 904 Palo Alto
  • 905 Sunnyvale
  • 906 Burlingame*
  • 907 Mountain View*
  • 908 Redwood City
  • 909 Menlo Park*
  • 910 Millbrae*
  • 911 San Carlos*
  • 912 San Bruno
  • 913 Belmont
  • 914 Atherton
  • 915 South San Francisco*
  • 916 California
  • 917 Gilroy*
  • 918 County of San Mateo
  • 919 County of Santa Clara
  • 920 Morgan Hill [Operation Lifesaver]
  • 921 San Martin
  • 922 Tamien
  • 923
  • 924
  • 925 Jackie Speier (in recognition of securing $127 million for improvements that allowed the start of Baby Bullet service)
  • 926
  • 927
  • 928

* indicates those locomotives that have been christened by their namesake cities

[edit] Rolling Stock

Caltrain rolling stock includes 93 bi-level cars built by Nippon Sharyo including 66 coaches and 27 bike accessible cab control cars. For Baby Bullet express trains, 17 Bombardier BiLevel Coaches including 10 coaches and 7 (5 of which are bike accessible and some 15px) cab control cars are used. The Bombardier-made cab cars can only carry one half the bikes of a Nippon Sharyo car. To compensate, Caltrain typically runs two cab cars (one at the tail and one just behind the engine) when using the Bombardier coaches for Baby Bullet service.

Caltrain formerly used "Boise Budd" single-level cars it bought from Virginia Railway Express. These were sold after becoming obsolete. They are now in service on the Grand Canyon Railway.

[edit] Intermodal Connections

[edit] Regional Rail

Caltrain has direct connections to three regional rail services; Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) (providing service to Colma, Daly City, San Francisco and the East bay) at the Millbrae Station, Amtrak's Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight trains, as well as Altamont Commuter Express at San Jose's Diridon Station.

[edit] Bus/Light Rail

Caltrain is served by a number of local bus/rail systems. These system include the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans) and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). (Additionally, Golden Gate Transit of Marin and Sonoma Counties is within 20 minutes' walking distance from Caltrain's northern terminus.)

In August 2005, as part of its Vasona light rail project, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority established its third transfer point with Caltrain at San Jose's central train station Diridon. In addition to many bus connections, VTA light rail service has two other Caltrain transfer points at San Jose's Tamien and at Mountain View. (Also, the Cottle light rail stop in southern San Jose is a mile from Caltrain's Blossom Hill station.)

The San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) has one light rail connection, the N Judah line, at the San Francisco 4th and King station. Muni intends to establish another light rail connection to the Bayshore station at Visitacion Valley in southern San Francisco with its new Third Street light rail extension, but this has been delayed indefinitely due to cost and design issues. The Third Street extension will open in late 2006 without the connection.

[edit] Airport

Caltrain also has connection to San Francisco International Airport via BART at the Millbrae Station and to San Jose International Airport via VTA shuttle bus at the Santa Clara Station.

[edit] Regional Express Bus

Caltrain is also served by AC Transit from Hayward at the Hillsdale station (Line M), Dumbarton Express from Union City at Palo Alto, Highway 17 Express bus from Santa Cruz and Monterey-Salinas Transit from Monterey at San Jose, as well as San Benito County Express from Hollister at Gilroy.

[edit] Bus Shuttle

Caltrain sponsors many shuttle routes serving local employers on the Peninsula and the Silicon Valley. Shuttle connections via the Marguerite are available to Stanford University at the Palo Alto and California Avenue stations and San José State University at the San Jose Station.

[edit] Bicycle access

Caltrain was one of the first commuter rail services to add bicycle capacity to its trains. On the older gallery Nippon Sharyo fleet, every cab car is designed to carry 32 bicycles. On the other hand, most cab cars on the newer Bombardier fleet are designed to carry 16 bicycles. Consequently, bike capacity on trains ranges from 16 to 64 bicycles. However, folding bicycles are not restricted and can be carried on any car when folded.

All bicycle cars are marked by a yellow bike decal on the outside. Onboard the bicycle cars, the cyclists are required to secure their bicycle to the rack using the bungee cord provided. Each rack can accomodate four bicycles. Because the bikes are stacked together against the racks, most riders place a destination tag on their bicycles to optimize placement and minimize shuffling. <ref>Caltrain Bike</ref> <ref>Nov-Dec 1995 San Francisco Bicycle Coalition The Tubular Times - from Google Groups</ref>

The variation on bicycle capacity between trainsets has generated criticisms from the bicycling community, as cyclists are denied boarding when a train reaches its bicycle capacity. The Baby Bullet service, favored by many cyclists, is routinely operated with lower-bike capacity Bombardier trainsets and cyclists may be forced to wait for slower trains operated with higher-capacity gallery cars.<ref>"Bicyclists can't get on board", Mountain View Voice, 16 Jul. 2004.</ref>

Due to equipment rotation and maintenance concerns, Caltrain says it cannot dedicate higher-bike capacity trainsets on trains with high bike demand. Caltrain has also rejected removing seats to increase bicycle capacity because some trains are operated at seated capacity and the seat removal would take space from other fare-paying passengers.

To provide an alternative to bringing bicycles onboard the trains, <ref>Caltrain Bike FAQ</ref> Caltrain has installed bicycle lockers at most stations, and is constructing a new bicycle station at the San Francisco station. A bicycle station was opened at the Palo Alto station from April 1999 to October 2004.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

<references/>

[edit] External links

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