The objective of Caltrain’s Engineering & Construction Third-Party Projects group is to work closely with outside parties to ensure that all access to Caltrain property is covered by appropriate agreements, constructed in compliance with Caltrain approved plans, and that activities are protected in the safest manner possible.
The Third Party Projects group coordinates construction and encroachment activities with federal, state, local public works agencies, regulators, contractors, and other outside parties (commonly referred to "Third-parties") wishing to perform work within the Operating Railroad right-of-way.
The Third-party Projects group reviews proposed uses of Caltrain property that exceed 6 months in duration after they have been reviewed and approved by the Caltrain Rail Corridor Use Policy review process.
Working on or near an active rail corridor poses significant challenges for safety and other logistics, and the Caltrain corridor is one of the busiest corridors in the western United States, with more than one hundred trains on weekdays (many of them express trains). Caltrain has an excellent safety record for construction activities that have occurred along the right of way attributable to our stringent rules and training requirements.
An overview of Caltrain’s safety requirements can be found in our Operating System Interface document (155KB, PDF). Additional information on safety requirements can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions section.
All Third-party Project workers on Caltrain property are required to complete basic Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) training, which is administered through our Railroad Contract Operator. Instructions to scheduling training can be found at Safety Training.
Caltrain requires all parties working along its right of way to pay estimated expenses prior to performing any work. Caltrain only charges for actual expenses; any funds from the estimated advance payment not used during the project will be refunded. The estimates generated by Caltrain are conservative and cover one or two extra days of work in order to avoid shutting down a project prior to completion (due to unexpected delays or the work taking longer than anticipated).
TASI, the contractor that operates the Caltrain line, provides the majority of the support for On-Track Safety. Per the Caltrain contract with TASI and TASI’s union agreement with its employees, TASI’s employees must be paid for a full (8 or 10 hour) day, even if the project does not take the full day. Any TASI support arranged for a project must be cancelled 5 days in advance of the proposed start time to avoid being charged for a full day of work.
The following links provide greater detail on:
* Accessing our property, and/or placing temporary installations on our property.
* Detail on installing semi-permanent installations.
* Information regarding safety and insurance requirements, along with other important information (Frequently Asked Questions)
How to contact us:
Caltrain Public Third-party Projects
Engineering & Construction, 4th floor
1250 San Carlos Ave,
San Carlos, CA 94070
Third Party Projects
Email: 3pp@samtrans.com