At the Dec. 4 board meeting, Caltrain’s board of directors authorized the agency to enter in to an agreement with Metrolink to purchase 16 surplus rail cars. The agreement requires the payment of a $1 million deposit up front. The purchase price for the 16 vehicles is $5.6 million but that does not include an additional $9.4 million in costs to rehabilitate the cars and perform work at some platforms along the corridor to accommodate the longer trains.
The total project cost is $15 million, which will be paid through a combination of surplus farebox revenues collected as a result of Caltrain’s record-breaking ridership and a 2015 farebox revenue bond issuance.
The additional cars will be used to extend train sets and provide more capacity for standing-room only peak-hour trains. Following four years of record-setting ridership growth, Caltrain is operating many of its peak hour trains well beyond the seated capacity, causing customers to stand for lengthy periods during longer trips.
Metrolink will store some of the cars for Caltrain for the two months as the agency works out the logistics of moving them across the country for rehabilitation. While some cars may take up to a year to place in to service other cars may be able to go into service more quickly to provide some capacity relief on the system’s busiest trains.
The Bombardier Bi-Level Generation 2 rail cars will be purchased from Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which operates the Metrolink service. While these cars are similar to the Bombardier vehicles Caltrain uses, they have been phased out of use on the Metrolink system.
Caltrain’s newer Bombardier equipment and Gallery trains are currently configured with five cars, which include two bike cars. Trains can carry between 550 and 650 seated passengers. The equipment will be used to expand a number of peak hour trains to six cars.
Certain station platforms may be unable to accommodate the longer train sets. Caltrain is reviewing this issue and plans to make platform improvements before putting the trains into service.
The addition of these vehicles provides a short term capacity improvement while Caltrain continues to work towards electrifying the system. Electrification will allow Caltrain to operate up to six trains per in each direction. The project also offers a host of environmental benefits including emissions reductions, noise reductions and other improvements that will lower the cost to operate Caltrain service. Caltrain expects to complete electrification between winter 2020 and spring 2021. The final timeline for electrification will be based on construction schedules and total project scope, which the board is expected to address in 2015.
In the interim, the agency will continue to work with advocacy groups like the newly formed Caltrain Commuter Coalition (C3), to seek additional funds that will go towards projects that enhance Caltrain capacity and improve operational efficiency.
