Caltrain to Upgrade PA Systems

Caltrain to Upgrade Public Address Systems at Four Stations

July 14, 2014

Caltrain is set to improve the customer experience of its passengers by upgrading the Public Address (PA) systems at its San Francisco 22nd Street, South San Francisco, Sunnyvale and San Jose Diridon stations. In addition, the rail agency will install Visual Message Signs (VMS) at the 22nd Street station.

Work will begin on July 21 and will take about six months to complete. Crews will be on site at the four stations from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the six months of construction, except at the 22nd Street Station, where conduit work underneath the bridge will take place in the early morning hours of 1 a.m. – 4 a.m.

The project will begin with installation at the 22nd Street Caltrain Station before proceeding south to South San Francisco and Sunnyvale before finishing at the San Jose Diridon Station in late December or early January. The PA systems at the four stations were identified as unreliable and inadequate as part of a 2009 report. The PA systems are used to provide critical service and safety information, and with the upgrades the communications systems at these four stations will provide clearer messages to customers.

Currently, there is no VMS system at the 22nd Street Caltrain Station, preventing customers from accessing real-time service information. Installing the VMS will enhance customer service at the station and bring communications up to current Caltrain standards.

The new PA and VMS network set to be installed will all be compatible with Caltrain’s predictive arrival/departure system.

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