Caltrain Electrification

https://www.caltrain.com/news/three-cal ... ed-testing

01/05/2024
Three of Caltrain’s eventual 23 electric train sets have completed a thousand miles of testing along the Caltrain corridor. The entirety of the new fleet must meet all safety and quality standards prior to the launch of electrified service in Fall 2024.

This 1,000 mile testing process is required to ensure all safety and quality standards are met in order to ensure that the trains can safely operate on Caltrain’s tracks. The trainsets will continue to undergo additional testing before they can be deemed ready for passenger service in 2024. Caltrain currently has six train sets on property, with the remainder expected to arrive from the Stadler US manufacturing facility in Utah over the next year.

"Rigorous testing of equipment is how we make sure that our corridor remains safe for passengers and the communities we serve” said Executive Director Michelle Bouchard. “I thank our crews for all their hard work testing these vehicles through the night while we continue to carry passengers during the day. I look forward to the rest of the new fleet going through the same safety testing process and for the rollout of this impressive fleet for our passengers later this year."

Caltrain’s historic Electrification Project is the first undertaking in North America in a generation in which diesel trains and their infrastructure components are transitioned to an electrified system. Electrification means faster and more frequent service, including doubling the frequency on weekends. The passenger experience will be greatly improved as well with the new trains featuring wi-fi, power outlets at every seat, onboard displays with digital trip information, increased storage capacities.

Electrification will also help meet ambitious regional and state climate action goals by lowering greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality and relieving traffic congestion. Additionally, electrified service will advance equity along the corridor by reducing noise and air pollution while increasing access for priority equity communities. It will also set the framework for California’s future High Speed Rail network that will run on the Caltrain corridor.

The proposed Electrification service plan would see weekday peak hour trains go to 79 stations per hour, an increase from the current 66. Eleven stations would experience four train arrivals hourly per direction, a notable improvement from seven stations currently. Midday trains would cover 44 stations per hour, up from 34 today.

The Electrification of the Caltrain coincides with the 160th anniversary of passenger rail service. There will be another train public tour and celebration of the anniversary in the spring.

A lot has happened since I last posted here.

Construction | Caltrain - the foundations, poles, and wires are all done, and the traction power facilities are almost all done. SF 98%, SSF 99%, Bur 97%, SM 98%, RC 98%, PA 98%, SV, SJ 100%

• Caltrain Electrification: Stunning Time-lapse of Electric Train Journey from Utah to the Bay - YouTube - Dec 25, 2023
• Caltrain Electrification 2023 - A Year of Progress - YouTube - Dec 15, 2023
• Caltrain: First Full Speed Electric Train Test - YouTube - Sep 25, 2023
• Caltrain: Electrification Milestone Reached – Final Pole Installation - YouTube - Sep 18, 2023
• Caltrain: Highlights of the Electric Train Public Tour at San Jose Diridon Station - YouTube - Sep 3, 2023
• Caltrain: Electric Train Public Tour at San Jose Diridon Station - YouTube - Aug 24, 2023

That Utah - Bay Area trip was over two days, with the train moving in nighttime as well as daytime. The last minute of the video was some urban area - the Bay Area - but I could not tell very well.

Home page: Electrification | Caltrain

Testing | Caltrain - of the 23 trainsets that Caltrain will have, 6 have arrived on the property, 4 have completed the 1000-mile test, and 0 have completed testing.

The SF - Tamien distance is about 50 miles, so this test is 10 round trips.

Coming Home | Caltrain - stating this route:

• Salt Lake City - where the trainsets are assembled
• The Great Salt Lake
• Black Rock Desert
• Plumas National Forest
• Lake Tahoe
• Sacramento, home of the California State Railroad Museum
• Caltrain Facility

Consulting OpenRailwayMap - between SLC and Sac:

• Ex-WP: GSL South Shore - Black Rock Desert - Plumas National Forest
• Ex-SP: GSL Center Crossing - Lake Tahoe

According to ORM, there is a branchline that connects the ex-SP and ex-WP lines north of Reno NV. That makes it possible to go near all the landmarks.

Virtual Reality - Electrification | Caltrain - works much like Google Maps Street View and a similar feature in Bing Maps. Click on the arrows to move around, and on (i) to get an infobox for each item.

Gallery | Caltrain - pictures and videos

Electrification Document Library | Caltrain

Please excuse if this has already been discussed, but where do the Caltrain gallery cars go when the electrics are fully commissioned and in use?

I believe they'll still be needed for trains running to Gilroy.

If money was unlimited I'd think it would be cool to convert them into something akin to the stock used on Metra's Electric District, but that's pure foamer fantasy...

Funny you mention that - it might be cost prohibitive to make them into EMU's as there are entirely new trucks and such required. But conventional trains were a good idea for longer runs such as Gilroy at Caltrains and if Metra were to electrify the Rock, anything past Blue Island. Or you could use an electric motor and conventional coaches and do limited stop experesses.

I just hope they don't scrap them. It seems there is a passenger car shortage right now. If Caltrains has 100ish Nippon Sharyo and Bombardier cars, it would be a bad move to scrap or sell abroad. Even if the FTA wants to pay for cold storage to preserve them for future use (and refit) as corridor coaches somewhere... Funny how California just took delivery of new Siemens cars last year.

Good god no, these cars are absolutely awful.

- zero accessibility. it's 2024.
- extremely inefficient boarding and unloading with a single door per car in the middle
- awkward second level that requires backtracking if there are no seats

I remember the first time I rode these cars in 2007 and could not believe how such an unconformable and awkward product was the norm in Silicon Valley, supposedly the heart of American innovation.

I think the first ones were acquired by SP pre-Caltrain (they were painted in the Overland scheme); probably seemed a good idea at the time, since the Harriman coaches were not air-conditioned (and as I recall the windows couldn't be opened -- not a problem in The City but of course the weather is always hotter the closer you get to San Jose). They always seemed to be well maintained when I rode them, so I don't know whether there were any mechanical issues that required replacement -- they continued in service after the gallery cars arrived. I always preferred the Harriman cars, but that's the railfan talking.

lensovet wrote: ↑Thu Mar 21, 2024 9:05 pm Good god no, these cars are absolutely awful.

- zero accessibility. it's 2024.
- extremely inefficient boarding and unloading with a single door per car in the middle
- awkward second level that requires backtracking if there are no seats

I remember the first time I rode these cars in 2007 and could not believe how such an unconformable and awkward product was the norm in Silicon Valley, supposedly the heart of American innovation.

There are accessible models of that car and if the specific units on Caltrain don't have accessible features, that is on the government in California and San Francisco being cheap, not the designer.

Furthermore they are incredibly durable and simple. They are easy to repair, have an existing supply chain, and do not rust.

And contrary to your statements they were the product of American innovation, when two railroads in Chicago decided to invest in commuter trains rather than using second- and third-tier equipment as had been the norm for commuter trains in the past. They board much faster than many other cars and seem to be just find in Washington, Chicago, Nashville, and Montreal at one time.

Further, as the corridor fleet around the US ages and some agencies do not want the Siemens cars (and Amtrak does a poor job maintaining them) the possibility of a stainless gallery car is very practical with long distance seats as the C&NW once did for 8+ hour runs to northern Michigan.

Tadman wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2024 9:38 am There are accessible models of that car and if the specific units on Caltrain don't have accessible features, that is on the government in California and San Francisco being cheap, not the designer.

Umm, these cars were built in 1985. The ADA wasn't even passed until 5 years later.

Furthermore they are incredibly durable and simple. They are easy to repair, have an existing supply chain, and do not rust.

The AK-47 is also incredibly durable, simple, and easy to repair, but somehow I don't see the US Military using them.

And contrary to your statements they were the product of American innovation, when two railroads in Chicago decided to invest in commuter trains rather than using second- and third-tier equipment as had been the norm for commuter trains in the past. They board much faster than many other cars and seem to be just find in Washington, Chicago, Nashville, and Montreal at one time.

Innovation in the 50s. It's 70 years later. I'm sure we could come up with something more innovative after all these years? I don't know which cars they board faster than, I'm just talking from personal experience having used them many times in California. Maybe Californians are just slow.

Further, as the corridor fleet around the US ages and some agencies do not want the Siemens cars (and Amtrak does a poor job maintaining them) the possibility of a stainless gallery car is very practical with long distance seats as the C&NW once did for 8+ hour runs to northern Michigan.

People considered things practical and comfortable decades ago that they would not accept today. Most people are not willing to spend 8 hours sitting on a train no matter how comfortable it is and would rather deal with a 2-hour flight in much less comfortable seats.

I love the completely unnecessary and irrelevant dig at Amtrak though.

There are two orders of cars that Caltrain purchased from Nippon Sharyo.

The first batch in 1984 was likely not ADA compatible. There were 73 cars in the order. Can't say they're going to be of much interest as replacements anywhere.

https://www.n-sharyo.co.jp/business/tet ... ltrans.htm

The second set of deliveries for Caltrain were in 1999 for 20 cars, which two wheelchair specific positions. Not quite ready for scrapping by anyone's transit measure.

https://www.n-sharyo.co.jp/business/tet ... ltrans.htm

Those 1984-1987 cars would have gone thru overhaul every 10-15 years, and I'd be surprised given California's social priorities if they weren't upgraded to ADA capabilities along the way. The wheelchair lifts are an aftermarket product, and removing/replacing seats would be a standard part of the overhaul process.

Caltrain on their own website guarantees only one accessible car per train.

It wouldn’t be the first time California’s spoken “social priorities” had nothing to do with the reality. But that’s just politics and it’s universal.

I'm guessing that guarantee assumes the newer cars are used as cabs.

That's not much different from other heavy rail operators. TRE and other Herzog operations have the mini-highs positioned for the cab cars because that's where the conductor is most likely to be when stopped.

Metra only guarantees the cab car is accessible even though half the cars on any given consist usually have a lift installed. It's also the only car guaranteed to have a lavatory.... the Budd and Pullman lavs had been locked off to reduce the overnight servicing requirements.

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No need to guess info that is publicly available. Just 6 out of the 20 accessible cars are cabs.

Looks like 14 of these dinosaurs were retired to Sonoma this past Saturday. That video reminds me of another thing, which is what screech machines these cars are.

Pretty low capacity too. An accessible cab has just 78 seats, compared to NJT's 127 on a multilevel. Hell, a single-level Comet V cab has 109 seats, is accessible at all positions, has 3 (!) doors for boarding, and is also made of stainless steel!