This 1,000-mile testing process is required to ensure all safety and quality standards are met 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 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. According to Caltrain, electrification means faster and more frequent service, including doubling the frequency on weekends.
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.
Caltrain provides rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with commute service to Gilroy. Serving the region since 1863, Caltrain is the oldest continually operating rail system west of the Mississippi. Looking to the future, 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.