SAN CARLOS, Calif. — Four trains per hour during peak periods, trip times for locals cut from 100 minutes to 75 minutes, and increased weekend service highlight Caltrain’s plan for service when electrification begins in fall 2024.
The plan announced last week refines the initial proposal introduced in October [see “Caltrain offers details on initial plans …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 6, 2023], based on public comments.
Caltrain says survey respondents emphasized faster and more frequent service, particularl on weekends. As a result, the service plan now calls for weekend trains every 30 minutes, rather than every hour. Overall, there will be a 20% increase in service; the agency says the electrified system will have the capacity to increase service further, with up to six trains per hour during peak periods.
“With electrified Caltrain service now less than a year away, it is exciting to see a new schedule in place that will allow riders to get to their destinations quicker and more often,” Caltrain Board Chair Jeff Gee said in a press release. “While there is still a lot of work ahead of us, the vision of greener, quieter and more efficient trains will soon be a reality.”
Electrified operation will cut travel times from the southernmost portion of the Caltrain system, Gilroy and Morgan Hill, by nearly 30 minutes, although trips from those stations on the non-electrified section will require a train change. A battery-electric train will eventually offer trial service over the full route [see “Caltrain orders battery-electric trainset …,” News Wire, Aug. 18, 2023].
Do ya’ll EVER stop whining and complaining that things are more complicated than the old days?
Those kids are on your lawn, too. Best watch out.
Sure is taking them a long, LONG, L-O-N-G time to figure this out. A year and a half? Call up SEPTA and see if they can find the old PRR data from their testing ca. 1915 on the PRR’s suburban electrification of 1915.
By this time CA’s new equipment should be worn out and need replaced! The old equipment could become housing for migrants–especially as there might not be any electricity around to run them! In the meantime stray cats could be rounded up to provide spare battery-charging plus employment for the migrants from stroking the cats! But to get current into the wires generators run by hamster- and migrant-powered wheels could be used. In a pinch squirrels could be added to the mix.
Will the electric grid handle these, or will they have their own power generation?
Good question !
Short answer: yes. A report just out this week from the agency that analyzes grid reliability in North America explains that solar and battery capacity building in the state is moving the needle: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/california-less-likely-blackouts-thanks-180000377.html