The Caltrain Traction Power Substation in South San Francisco was constructed by Balfour Beatty and its industry partners and was energized with power from Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).
Caltrain’s substation in South San Francisco is one of two main traction power substations along the Caltrain corridor, in addition to the San Jose location which was energized last August. Together, with eight other smaller facilities along the corridor, power substations provide, distribute, and regulate electricity to the overhead wires which will power Caltrain’s new high-performance electric trains.
Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with commute service to Gilroy. Caltrain is set to electrify the corridor by 2024, which will reduce diesel emissions and add more service to more stations while advancing the agency’s equity goals.
“Energization of the second traction power substation is a momentous milestone for the Caltrain Electrification Project and continues to keep us on track for launch of electrified service in fall of 2024,” said Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain executive director. “We want to thank the hundreds of people that have been involved in the work and coordination to get us to this moment. Soon we be able to test electric trains along our entire corridor and we are excited to deliver a world-class system for the public.”
Caltrain, PG&E and Balfour Beatty’s work to complete the energization was substantial and needed to be safely conducted while maintaining reliable service to more than 20,000 customers also served by the existing infrastructure.
The infrastructure upgrades included construction of two, double-circuit 115 kV transmission connections from the East Grand Substation in South San Francisco and the FMC Substation in San Jose to Caltrain traction power stations in those communities; the rebuild of the East Grand and FMC substations that enabled PG&E to support Caltrain’s request for redundant transmission feeds; and additional upgrades to three PG&E and two third-party remote end substations.