Post by bennyp81 on Jun 15, 2005 13:30:25 GMT -8
Dan K.
User ID: 1348824 Apr 4th 3:10 PM
BayRail Alliance is working to convert Caltrain Commuter Rail Service into a full-scale metro service through incremental improvements to the rail corridor.
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 Apr 10th 11:42 PM
I know that Caltrain is working on electrifying their line, but I've seen a bit of contradictory information on the web as to when this project will be finished (or started for that matter). I've seen startup dates of 2006 and 2014. So which one is it? Has there been any visible progress toward electrification? Does anyone know what type of rolling stock or locomotives will be used. If it were up to me, I'd buy the ALP46/DB-101 locomotive that NJ Transit uses, since they are basically a proven design, and a US version already exists. But when they finish, it will definitely be cool to ride on an electric train, or an express MU. Shiny and modern, just like on the other side of the Pacific.
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 Apr 11th 2:08 PM
As with all CA transit agencies, CalTrain and its funding partners are way short on capital funds.
In one CalTrain Enhanced Scenario, the electri-fication project had a completion date of 2008.
Due to an inconsistency in programming of electrification funds by the member agencies, funding for the electrification project will not be available until 2014.
A plan to fund electrification in the near-term will need to be devised. The total capital program cost is nearly $2.5 billion with an estimated shortfall of approximately $629 million.
Based upon current conditions, it seems unlikely that capital funding for electrification will be available for at least 5 years.
Þ--Þ--Þ
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 May 8th 11:02 PM
The caltrain website has some interesting updates on Caltrain's service plan. They have some very odd ideas on how to deal with their financial crisis. They are increasing service, and restructuring the schedule to make trips faster for people, and attract more ridership and revenue. They refuse to succumb to the death spiral of service cuts and ridership drops. The sheer competence of their management amazes.
I really hope they manage to come up with some more operating funds soon, and also a Big Pile of Cash so they can build their electrification and not have to deal with the rising cost of fuel.
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 May 9th 1:12 AM
I am not sure you have correctly understood what CalTrain is doing. The old CalTrain model is to operate with stations 1/2 mile apart. This makes for a very long and slow end-to-end trip.
CalTrain is following the Metrolink model and has set up a 6-7 station service with a end-to-end goal of less than 60 minutes.
San Jose to San Francisco is a long distance market segment that had never been tapped and was possible by upgrades and passing tracks funded by the State of CA during the DotCom era.
Money is made because it attracted new ridership and full trains, therefore reducing the overall deficit of the service. On the other side, CalTrain has been reducing a lot of local stops and attempting to increase the distance between stations. But citizens who have been use to going to their local stations have been putting up stiff resistance to the station cuts.
Overall, CalTrain fares are close to Metrolink, but the system has historical labor rules that keep costs way too high. For example, they still have staffed stations. Metrolink only has ticket agents at Union Station.
And, until recently, there were 3-4 assistant conductors per train to collect tickets. CalTrain has finally adopted the Metrolink Proof of Payment system and is moving towards only one conductor per train which will make a major difference in labor costs.
As noted on the post above, electrification is many years in the future. CalTrain still faces multi-year $10-$20 million annual deficits, even with cost saving moves.
With continued equipment acquistion and station stop reduction, CalTrain is getting a better handle on costs. But with the three sponsoring agencies to CalTrain: VTA, Samtrans and Muni not being able to fund the existing CalTrain, there is little hope for major capital projects.
Þ--Þ--Þ
Michael M.
User ID: 0944964 May 9th 12:22 PM
Bart, from San Jose Diridon Station to the 4th & King Station in San Francisco, Caltrain has 25 stations (not including Bay Meadows, which operates only on race days). From Downtown San Francisco to Downtown San Jose via the 101 Freeway is 49 miles, and I expect that the length of this part of the Caltrain route is quite similar. 49/25 = an average spacing of 2 miles, not 1/2 mile.
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 May 9th 5:18 PM
And Caltrain hasn't eliminated most of the stations, only 3 of them, one of which had only like 2 trains a day stop there anyway, and a ridership statistically indistinguishable from zero. The other two stations also had limited (hourly) service, and both had a center platform which meant that, say, an inbound train loading would block outbound trains from passing the station on the other track.
What Caltrain is doing is being smart. They know the funding limitations they have, and the capacity limitations they have, so they are trying to see how much revenue they can get out of their current trains, crews, and tracks. And from what I hear, it seems that they are doing a pretty good job of it.
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 Jul 16th 9:45 PM
San Jose Mercury News: Wednesday, July 10, 2002
All aboard for Caltrain electrification
MY VIEW: By Margaret Okuzumi
NEW residents and visitors alike frequently comment on the poor state of transit in the Bay Area. We may be the tech capital of the world, but we lack the state-of-the-art trains of Paris, Tokyo or Zurich.
We can change this sad state of affairs for half of the Bay Area, with an investment in Caltrain electrification.
Imagine my disbelief, then, when the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which approves a billion-dollar transportation budget each year for Santa Clara County, attempted to sidestep a commitment to provide the $2.86 million required to move electrification forward this year.
Even more disturbing, VTA expressed a desire to delay Caltrain electrification by a decade or more.
Electrification could double Caltrain's appeal and ridership by providing a faster, smoother, quieter ride.
The Caltrain board voted in May 1999 to make electrification a top priority, and hopes to complete it by 2006. The plans are not new.
VTA's equally cash-strapped partners in San Francisco and San Mateo counties have ponied up their share of funds for Caltrain.
San Francisco even offered to loan VTA the necessary funds to move electrification forward this year. So why VTA's regional non-cooperation?
VTA can't afford to neglect Caltrain, which serves most of the cities in the county. Caltrain makes the trip from south San Jose to downtown Mountain View in less than half the time of VTA light rail.
Its riders travel an average of 21 miles each trip, providing relief to some of the most congested stretches of freeway. A modernized Caltrain would put a significant dent into Santa Clara County's air quality and traffic congestion problems.
Caltrain has a number of advantages over BART, such as faster express trains and on-board restrooms. Savvy commuters appreciate Caltrain's improved frequency and on-time performance.
For many people, however, Caltrain, with its noisy, clunky cars and smelly, polluting diesel locomotives, contains little appeal.
Electrification would change that.
Voters demonstrated strong enthusiasm for transit with the passage of Measure A in November 2000. But VTA has invested little in Caltrain.
It's past time for VTA to move Caltrain into the modern rail world. Thankfully, MTC Commissioner John McLemore of the city of Santa Clara has helped identify regional funds that VTA can use to augment its recession-squeezed budget for electrification.
On Thursday, VTA representatives on the Caltrain board would do well to follow his lead and vote to keep Caltrain electrification on track.
---------------------------------------------
Margaret Okuzumi is executive director of BayRail Alliance (http://www.bayrailalliance.org), a grass-roots transit advocacy group.
Þ--Þ--Þ
User ID: 1348824 Apr 4th 3:10 PM
BayRail Alliance is working to convert Caltrain Commuter Rail Service into a full-scale metro service through incremental improvements to the rail corridor.
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 Apr 10th 11:42 PM
I know that Caltrain is working on electrifying their line, but I've seen a bit of contradictory information on the web as to when this project will be finished (or started for that matter). I've seen startup dates of 2006 and 2014. So which one is it? Has there been any visible progress toward electrification? Does anyone know what type of rolling stock or locomotives will be used. If it were up to me, I'd buy the ALP46/DB-101 locomotive that NJ Transit uses, since they are basically a proven design, and a US version already exists. But when they finish, it will definitely be cool to ride on an electric train, or an express MU. Shiny and modern, just like on the other side of the Pacific.
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 Apr 11th 2:08 PM
As with all CA transit agencies, CalTrain and its funding partners are way short on capital funds.
In one CalTrain Enhanced Scenario, the electri-fication project had a completion date of 2008.
Due to an inconsistency in programming of electrification funds by the member agencies, funding for the electrification project will not be available until 2014.
A plan to fund electrification in the near-term will need to be devised. The total capital program cost is nearly $2.5 billion with an estimated shortfall of approximately $629 million.
Based upon current conditions, it seems unlikely that capital funding for electrification will be available for at least 5 years.
Þ--Þ--Þ
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 May 8th 11:02 PM
The caltrain website has some interesting updates on Caltrain's service plan. They have some very odd ideas on how to deal with their financial crisis. They are increasing service, and restructuring the schedule to make trips faster for people, and attract more ridership and revenue. They refuse to succumb to the death spiral of service cuts and ridership drops. The sheer competence of their management amazes.
I really hope they manage to come up with some more operating funds soon, and also a Big Pile of Cash so they can build their electrification and not have to deal with the rising cost of fuel.
Bart Reed
User ID: 9523443 May 9th 1:12 AM
I am not sure you have correctly understood what CalTrain is doing. The old CalTrain model is to operate with stations 1/2 mile apart. This makes for a very long and slow end-to-end trip.
CalTrain is following the Metrolink model and has set up a 6-7 station service with a end-to-end goal of less than 60 minutes.
San Jose to San Francisco is a long distance market segment that had never been tapped and was possible by upgrades and passing tracks funded by the State of CA during the DotCom era.
Money is made because it attracted new ridership and full trains, therefore reducing the overall deficit of the service. On the other side, CalTrain has been reducing a lot of local stops and attempting to increase the distance between stations. But citizens who have been use to going to their local stations have been putting up stiff resistance to the station cuts.
Overall, CalTrain fares are close to Metrolink, but the system has historical labor rules that keep costs way too high. For example, they still have staffed stations. Metrolink only has ticket agents at Union Station.
And, until recently, there were 3-4 assistant conductors per train to collect tickets. CalTrain has finally adopted the Metrolink Proof of Payment system and is moving towards only one conductor per train which will make a major difference in labor costs.
As noted on the post above, electrification is many years in the future. CalTrain still faces multi-year $10-$20 million annual deficits, even with cost saving moves.
With continued equipment acquistion and station stop reduction, CalTrain is getting a better handle on costs. But with the three sponsoring agencies to CalTrain: VTA, Samtrans and Muni not being able to fund the existing CalTrain, there is little hope for major capital projects.
Þ--Þ--Þ
Michael M.
User ID: 0944964 May 9th 12:22 PM
Bart, from San Jose Diridon Station to the 4th & King Station in San Francisco, Caltrain has 25 stations (not including Bay Meadows, which operates only on race days). From Downtown San Francisco to Downtown San Jose via the 101 Freeway is 49 miles, and I expect that the length of this part of the Caltrain route is quite similar. 49/25 = an average spacing of 2 miles, not 1/2 mile.
crzwdjk
User ID: 0122954 May 9th 5:18 PM
And Caltrain hasn't eliminated most of the stations, only 3 of them, one of which had only like 2 trains a day stop there anyway, and a ridership statistically indistinguishable from zero. The other two stations also had limited (hourly) service, and both had a center platform which meant that, say, an inbound train loading would block outbound trains from passing the station on the other track.
What Caltrain is doing is being smart. They know the funding limitations they have, and the capacity limitations they have, so they are trying to see how much revenue they can get out of their current trains, crews, and tracks. And from what I hear, it seems that they are doing a pretty good job of it.
Bart Reed
User ID: 1606604 Jul 16th 9:45 PM
San Jose Mercury News: Wednesday, July 10, 2002
All aboard for Caltrain electrification
MY VIEW: By Margaret Okuzumi
NEW residents and visitors alike frequently comment on the poor state of transit in the Bay Area. We may be the tech capital of the world, but we lack the state-of-the-art trains of Paris, Tokyo or Zurich.
We can change this sad state of affairs for half of the Bay Area, with an investment in Caltrain electrification.
Imagine my disbelief, then, when the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), which approves a billion-dollar transportation budget each year for Santa Clara County, attempted to sidestep a commitment to provide the $2.86 million required to move electrification forward this year.
Even more disturbing, VTA expressed a desire to delay Caltrain electrification by a decade or more.
Electrification could double Caltrain's appeal and ridership by providing a faster, smoother, quieter ride.
The Caltrain board voted in May 1999 to make electrification a top priority, and hopes to complete it by 2006. The plans are not new.
VTA's equally cash-strapped partners in San Francisco and San Mateo counties have ponied up their share of funds for Caltrain.
San Francisco even offered to loan VTA the necessary funds to move electrification forward this year. So why VTA's regional non-cooperation?
VTA can't afford to neglect Caltrain, which serves most of the cities in the county. Caltrain makes the trip from south San Jose to downtown Mountain View in less than half the time of VTA light rail.
Its riders travel an average of 21 miles each trip, providing relief to some of the most congested stretches of freeway. A modernized Caltrain would put a significant dent into Santa Clara County's air quality and traffic congestion problems.
Caltrain has a number of advantages over BART, such as faster express trains and on-board restrooms. Savvy commuters appreciate Caltrain's improved frequency and on-time performance.
For many people, however, Caltrain, with its noisy, clunky cars and smelly, polluting diesel locomotives, contains little appeal.
Electrification would change that.
Voters demonstrated strong enthusiasm for transit with the passage of Measure A in November 2000. But VTA has invested little in Caltrain.
It's past time for VTA to move Caltrain into the modern rail world. Thankfully, MTC Commissioner John McLemore of the city of Santa Clara has helped identify regional funds that VTA can use to augment its recession-squeezed budget for electrification.
On Thursday, VTA representatives on the Caltrain board would do well to follow his lead and vote to keep Caltrain electrification on track.
---------------------------------------------
Margaret Okuzumi is executive director of BayRail Alliance (http://www.bayrailalliance.org), a grass-roots transit advocacy group.
Þ--Þ--Þ