Community Corner
Caltrain Electrification Prep Work Underway So Riders, Nearby Residents May See More Workers In Area
Also, have you noticed some lines have more train cars? Capacity increased on three lines.
SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA – Preparations for the construction work needed to electrify Caltrain along the Peninsula corridor have started and will last until the end of February, officials with the transit agency said Thursday.
Workers will be locating utilities, testing soils and testing cables, primarily during the day but sometimes overnight between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.
Caltrain officials said residents living nearby should have received a notice about the work.
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Passengers should be aware of signs indicating they need to board from a different platform because at time trains may share one track.
The work is part of the overall Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project, which will electrify the Caltrain system from Fourth and King streets in San Francisco south to about the Tamien Caltrain Station in San
Jose.
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The aim of the project is to reduce carbon emissions, reduce noise and improve regional air quality, according to Caltrain officials.
Construction itself is expected to start in the spring or summer of next year and the project is expected to be complete at the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021.
The operating speed of the trains will not change but the number of trains in service will increase overall, Caltrain officials said.
In addition, to help accommodate passengers feeling the squeeze from crowded onboard conditions, Caltrain has added extra seating capacity to its commute service with an extra train car on three lines -- #220, #272, and #278.
Typically, those lines operate with five-car consists, but they now have six-car consists for each trip, adding approximately 200 additional passengers on those trips.
Ridership on Caltrain has increased significantly with average weekday counts rising to more than 60,000 passengers this year. By comparison the average weekday ridership in 2010 was just over 36,000, the agency said.
- And for your weekend, see: This Weekend In NorCal: Butterfly Spectacular; Warehouse Toy Sale; Mt. Tam Day of Thanks & Wreath Making
--Bay City News/Image via Caltrain
