Caltrain

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{{Infobox Public transit |name = Caltrain |image = Caltrain_logo.png |locale = San Francisco to Gilroy, California |transit_type = Commuter rail |began_operation = 1987 |lines = 1 |stations = 32 |ridership = 32,031(avg. weekday) |track_gauge = Template:Standard gauge (standard gauge) |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 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. Hourly train service is provided year-round, with more frequent service provided during normal weekdays commute hours. As of 2005, Caltrain has 29 regular stops, one football-only stop (Stanford Stadium), and two weekend-only stops (Broadway and Atherton). Weekday ridership in February 2006 was 32,031 boardings [1].

Contents

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History

Image:Caltrain.jpg Image:Caltrainterminal.jpg

Caltrain Ridership by year Average Weekday, Survey done every February[2]
2002 28,400
2003 26,245
2004 24,793
2005 28,393
2006 32,031

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. 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 adapted, 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.

In June 2004, Caltrain finished a two-year CTX (Caltrain Express) construction project that was aimed to implement the Baby Bullet express service. The project included the purchase of new Bombardier BiLevel Coach trainsets (along with MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives) for the express service and the installation of bypass tracks in Brisbane and Sunnyvale as well as a new CTC system. The resulting express (Baby Bullet) service reduced travel time by stopping only at five stations between San Francisco (at 4th and King) and San Jose (Diridon Station): The travel time between San Francisco and San Jose for the express service is 57 minutes instead of the 1 hour 30 minutes of the local service.

Starting from May 2005, Caltrain implemented a series of fare increases and schedule changes in response to the 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 is scheduled for January 2006. Currently, Caltrain operates a mix of 96 local, limited, and express weekday trains.

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Major Future Service Improvements and Expansions

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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[3], 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. This project is scheduled to start construction in 2006 and open in 2012.

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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. Currently, with most of its funding secured, Dumbarton Rail is scheduled to start construction in 2006 and begin service in 2010.

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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). 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.

Weekend service, especially during the summer, could also be provided to Santa Cruz via Watsonville. 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 Aptos activists.

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Electrification

Since Downtown Extension requires tunneling and thus electrification, Caltrain also plans to electrify the whole system from San Francisco to Gilroy. This project has the potential to decrease equipment maintenance costs, lessen impact of wild fuel price fluctuation, and give Caltrain a modern image that is comparable to the BART service. This project is not expected to be completed until 2014. However, if the 2006 High-Speed Rail Bond passed and the Downtown San Francisco Extension went forward as scheduled, the completion date might be pulled earlier to 2012 to coincide with the opening of the new Transbay Terminal.

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Station Stops

Image:Wfm caltrain.png (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)

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Former Stations

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Permanent Closure

  • 4.1 - Paul Ave., San Francisco - to be replaced by Oakdale a few hundred feet to the north in 2011
  • 20.0 - Bay Meadows, San Mateo - station was closed on December 20, 2005, Hillsdale station is less than half mile away.
  • 34.9 - Castro, Mountain View (at Castro City on Rengstorff Avenue) - closed in 1998; replaced with the new San Antonio stop 0.8 miles to the north in 1999
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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
  • 27.8 - Atherton - weekends service retained; weekday peak-hours bus shuttle to Redwood City
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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.

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Locomotives and Rolling Stock

Image:Caltrain Baby Bullet.JPG Caltrain uses (or used) the following locomotives:

  • EMD F40PH - Original State Purchased Equipment
    • F40PH-2-CAT - Model Number given to locomotives with separate HEP added during overhauls.
    • F40PH-2C - Separate HEP; Manufactured by Boise(later MPI); Purchased in 1998
  • MPI MP36PH-3C - Mainly used for Baby Bullet express trains; Purchased in 2003
  • EMD GP9 - Work Train/Yard Switcher Duty
  • EMD MP15DC - Work Train/Yard Switcher Duty

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) cab control cars are used. The Bombardier-made cab cars can only carry one half the bikes of a Nippon Sharyo car, however.

Caltrain has formerly used "Boise Budd" single-level cars, formerly used by Virginia Railway Express. They have been sold after becoming obsolete and placed in storage. They are now being placed in service on the Grand Canyon Railway.

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Special Locomotives

After the closure of the Golden Gate Railroad Museum at Hunters Point in San Francisco, three special locomotives have been allowed residence at the former Southern Pacific 7th Street diesel shops near Caltrains' San Francisco station. They once served the bay area in their prime and will be used by Caltrain on special occasions and events. They are:

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Connecting Rail and Bus Transit Services

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.

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.)

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.

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 at San Jose, as well as San Benito County Express from Hollister and Monterey-Salinas Transit from Monterey County at Gilroy.

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

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.)

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External links

ja:カルトレイン es:Caltrain

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