For more than a month, Caltrain has been seeking the community’s input on proposed weekday service changes that will be effective in April.
During its monthly meeting this morning, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain operations, received an update about the feedback staff received from riders and the community about the proposed weekday changes.
Caltrain held numerous public meetings at various station stops from San Francisco to Morgan Hill on the proposed service changes that will accommodate construction of the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project (PCEP). The changes also will support Caltrain’s entire capital improvement program, which includes the Los Gatos Creek Bridge Replacement Project, the South San Francisco Station Improvement Project and the 25th Avenue Grade Separation Project.
During the months of December and January, Caltrain staff conducted more than a dozen station outreaches, had direct communication with more than 800 passengers and received approximately 380 comments.
Prior to public input, Caltrain considered the following proposed weekday service changes:
- Addition of six stops – Sunnyvale, California Avenue, San Carlos, San Mateo, Burlingame, San Bruno – to train 305 to attract more ridership to this northbound AM “shoulder peak” train
- Added dwell time to Top High-use Station Peak Hours
- Added stops at Santa Clara station at Trains 262 & 272 to improve Capitol Corridor and ACE connections
- Minor revisions for clock face departures
- Separation of southbound AM peak Baby Bullet trains 312 & 314 and 322 & 324, which currently operate back-to-back, for improved efficiency and time spacing for passengers
- Adjustment of some reverse-peak service trains at the Tamien Caltrain Station that has very low ridership to allow increased fueling and service windows of rolling stock at the Centralized Equipment Maintenance & Operations Facility in San Jose
- Departure time adjustments during off-peak periods to enable all train meets to occur at control points that will allow flexibility to the operation to accommodate PCEP work window
Since holding the community meetings, staff has decided to make the following additional changes to the morning commute schedule based on public feedback:
- Adjust trains 101 & 103 for same arrival of current schedule at the San Francisco Caltrain Station
- No alterations to the train 305 schedule (no added stops)
- Additional California Avenue stops for trains 211 & 221
- Additional Redwood City stops for trains 314 & 324
- Additional Hillsdale stop for train 230
- Adjust train 102 at the Mountain View station to improve VTA connection
- Adjust train 233’s schedule to improve ACE Rail and Capital Corridor connections at the Santa Clara station
In addition, the following evening commute changes also will be made based on public input:
- Additional Sunnyvale stop for train 287
- Additional Redwood City stops for trains 371 & 381
- Additional California Avenue stops for trains 366 & 376
- Additional Santa Clara stops for trains 262 & 272 for improved ACE and Amtrak connections
- No change to the departure time for train 199 due to last BART connection at Millbrae
- Adjust train 198 for later departure out of San Francisco station
Final weekday timetable changes are posted HERE. Implementation for the weekday service changes will be effective on Monday, April 10, 2017.
“We appreciate the feedback we have received from our customers during this outreach process,’’ said Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain’s Chief Operating Officer, Rail. “These changes will help maximize service for Caltrain customers and will facilitate the construction of an electrification project that has potential to dramatically improve the system’s capacity, frequency and travel times.”
Caltrain is also conducting outreach on changes to its weekend service. These changes are also required to support delivery of the electrification project.
In March, the JPB will hold a public hearing on proposed weekend service changes, which is expected to take effect in summer 2017.
Weekend service changes include:
- Changing Local service headways from 60 to 90 minutes with Baby Bullet service to support construction work windows, thereby, reducing the number of trains running on Saturdays from 36 to 28 and on Sundays from 32 to 24.
The proposed timetable changes will help facilitate electrification without requiring more drastic options such as termination of all weekend Caltrain service. The FTA required Title VI Equity Analysis findings for the proposed 2017 service changes will also be presented during the public hearing.
The public hearing will be held during the JPB’s monthly board meeting at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 2, 2017, at the Caltrain Administrative Office, 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos.
Prior to the hearing, comments may be sent by mail, e-mail or phone to Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, JPB Secretary, P.O. Box 3006, San Carlos, CA 94070-1306; Changes@caltrain.com; 1.800.660.4287; or online by clicking HERE.
The proposed weekend schedule is available for viewing at www.caltrain.com/proposedchanges or by calling 1.800.660.4287 (TDD only 650.508.6448).
For free translation assistance, call Caltrain at 1.800.660.4287 three days before the meeting.
Para servicio de traducción en Español, llame a Caltrain al 1.800.660.4287 por lo menos tres días laborales antes de las reuniones.
如果需要翻译，请在会议召开前三天内致电 Caltrain 客户服务部，电话 1.800.660.4287。
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About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides commuter rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with limited commute service to Gilroy. Caltrain enjoyed five years of consecutive monthly ridership increases, surpassing more than 60,000 average weekday riders. While the Joint Powers Board assumed operating responsibilities for the service in 1992, the railroad celebrated 150 years of continuous passenger service in 2014. Planning for the next 150 years of Peninsula rail service, Caltrain is on pace to electrify the system, reduce diesel emissions by 97 percent by 2040 and add more service to more stations.
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