# Progress of Caltrain Electrification



## Cal (Jun 3, 2021)




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## nullptr (Jun 3, 2021)

Link to the press release: Caltrain Electrification Delayed to 2024

The total price also increased by $333 million.


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 3, 2021)

nullptr said:


> Like to the press release: Caltrain Electrification Delayed to 2024
> 
> The total price also increased by $333 million.


What a Shock!


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## GiantsFan (Jun 4, 2021)

Is this a one year delay?


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## Cal (Jun 4, 2021)

GiantsFan said:


> Is this a one year delay?


I think two years


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## jis (Jun 4, 2021)

Why does it seem like all the electrification projects in the US have a heck of a problem getting foundations of the poles done in a timely fashion?

The NEC in NJ project finally failed to dig the foundations for more than half the posts that were originally supposed to be installed, and then finally even of the holes they managed to dig, some apparently not quite vertical to boot, they managed to actually install posts in only about two thirds of them. I worry about the competence of outfits that simply can't even dig straight vertical holes into ground.


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## AmtrakBlue (Jun 4, 2021)

jis said:


> Why does it seem like all the electrification projects in the US have a heck of a problem getting foundations of the poles done in a timely fashion?
> 
> The NEC in NJ project finally failed to dig the foundations for more than half the posts that were originally supposed to be installed, and then finally even of the holes they managed to dig, some apparently not quite vertical to boot, they managed to actually install posts in only about two thirds of them. I worry about the competence of outfits that simply can't even dig straight vertical holes into ground.


Most, if not all, the foundations for the new poles in the Newark, DE area are ready and waiting for the poles.


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## west point (Jun 4, 2021)

Do not forget the delays and various other problem getting New Haven - BOS electrified. Didn't the first electric to BOS have to switch tracks several times ? ( 6-8?))


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## GiantsFan (Jun 5, 2021)

Cal said:


> I think two years



Ah yeah I saw that it was originally scheduled for 2022.


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## George Harris (Jun 6, 2021)

When people scream about the cost of the California High Speed Rail system they to remember that stuff like this is counted as part of the CAHSR cost. As to the huge increase in cost, well this is California. Sorry, but this is reality in California. Part if not most of this is due to agitation by such as the residents of Berkley who don't want this horrible dirty eyesore in their neighborhood, not recognizing that without the railroad there would have been no Berkley in the first place.


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## nullptr (Jun 6, 2021)

I'm not sure I totally follow, I don't think either CAHSR or Caltrain go through Berkley? In any case, a 14% increase, while not ideal, is pretty mundane as far as transit capital cost overruns are concerned.


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## jis (Jun 6, 2021)

nullptr said:


> I'm not sure I totally follow, I don't think either CAHSR or Caltrain go through Berkley? In any case, a 14% increase, while not ideal, is pretty mundane as far as transit capital cost overruns are concerned.


Maybe he meant to say Stanford and mistyped. Of course Stanford had very intimate connections with SP for obvious reasons, back in the days.


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## MARC Rider (Jun 6, 2021)

If the HSR is just going to follow the existing Caltrain route, why should the NIMBYs care? They already have trains passing by, I would expect that electrified trains will be quieter than diesels, and HSR trains aren't going to be making many stops along the way, potentially disgorging hordes of "undesirable" passengers.

As for Berkeley, there seems to be no problem with the route of the Capitol Corridor passing through. Anyway, the train tracks pass through a part of Berkeley where practically nobody lives, and the principal neighbor of the train tracks is Interstate 80. All the hoity-toity yuppies in Berkeley live a good distance from the tracks, and given the topography of the town, there's no way a rail route is going to pass through. But it might be an interesting exercise to upgrade the Capitol Corridor tracks for higher speeds (if not true HSR) and maybe electrify the corridor. But, of course, they would have to buy the tracks from UP before they could do that.


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## west point (Jun 6, 2021)

How much of the HSR costs are for roads and bridges that needed work anyway ? How much does CA Highway department pay ?


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## George Harris (Jun 8, 2021)

Oops. Yesterday when I said "Berkley", I meant "Stanford". Yes, I know the school is primarily on the other side of the highway from Caltrain, but that does not mean the academics aren't screaming about everything Caltrain does in the Palo Alto area.

By the way, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board owns the railroad north of San Jose, not Union Pacific. Southern Pacific sold it to them years ago.


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## allanorn (Jun 8, 2021)

Get it while it’s hot: Latest CalTrain Update PowerPoint

Looks like the delay is a combination of COVID (not surprised), poles not making it on time, a couple of parts suppliers for the EMUs going bankrupt, utility work, and signals issues.

The signals issues make it sound like someone wasn’t paying attention to RTD’s plight back in 2016, and it’s getting spicy between CalTrain and Balfour Beatty. If a slide is recommending that CalTrain gets rid of Balfour to work directly with the third-party contractor... well, that escalated quickly.


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## George Harris (Jun 9, 2021)

west point said:


> How much of the HSR costs are for roads and bridges that needed work anyway ? How much does CA Highway department pay ?


A lot. The state is hanging everything but the kitchen sink into the HSR costs so that it does not appear in the highway department expenses.


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## west point (Jun 10, 2021)

George Harris said:


> A lot. The state is hanging everything but the kitchen sink into the HSR costs so that it does not appear in the highway department expenses.


I suspected as much!


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## jis (Jun 10, 2021)

George Harris said:


> A lot. The state is hanging everything but the kitchen sink into the HSR costs so that it does not appear in the highway department expenses.


The old Christmas Tree decoration syndrome....

I thought those spectacular Pergolas across UP and BNSF were a nice touch at elevating costs too. But those are minor things compared to some of the other decorations.


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## BCL (Jun 22, 2021)

MARC Rider said:


> If the HSR is just going to follow the existing Caltrain route, why should the NIMBYs care? They already have trains passing by, I would expect that electrified trains will be quieter than diesels, and HSR trains aren't going to be making many stops along the way, potentially disgorging hordes of "undesirable" passengers.
> 
> As for Berkeley, there seems to be no problem with the route of the Capitol Corridor passing through. Anyway, the train tracks pass through a part of Berkeley where practically nobody lives, and the principal neighbor of the train tracks is Interstate 80. All the hoity-toity yuppies in Berkeley live a good distance from the tracks, and given the topography of the town, there's no way a rail route is going to pass through. But it might be an interesting exercise to upgrade the Capitol Corridor tracks for higher speeds (if not true HSR) and maybe electrify the corridor. But, of course, they would have to buy the tracks from UP before they could do that.



Things have changed, especially since housing supply is constrained. A lot of the new housing in Berkeley is upscale apartments and condos near the tracks. Fourth and U Apartments is right next to BKY. There's a lot of housing in Emeryville where there used to be industrial space. There are apartments and condos all over on either side of the train tracks in Emeryville now. And tons of apartments around Jack London Square.


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## Brian Battuello (Jun 22, 2021)

I would ride a high speed train through Jack London Square


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## desertflyer (Dec 14, 2021)

One of the two AEM7s Caltrain purchased from Amtrak has been painted in a Caltrain livery. This engine will be used to help with the electrification of the corridor. I believe the second AEM7 will be used for parts.

 

Surprisingly sharp looking, in my opinion. Almost eastern European.


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## GiantsFan (Dec 14, 2021)

That AEM-7 is lookin FRESH!!!


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## jis (Dec 15, 2021)

desertflyer said:


> One of the two AEM7s Caltrain purchased from Amtrak has been painted in a Caltrain livery. This engine will be used to help with the electrification of the corridor. I believe the second AEM7 will be used for parts.
> 
> Surprisingly sharp looking, in my opinion. Almost eastern European.


Well it is actually Northern European, Swedish to be precise, in its origins. Based on the RC-4 from ASEA and then ABB after a few shuffles of corporate deck chairs. The American version was manufactured by EMD IIRC.


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## Metra Electric Rider (Dec 15, 2021)

What's all this crazy talk about electrifying trains! Whatever next? No cabooses? 

(yes, you'll love electric commuting)


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## jis (Feb 2, 2022)

From the _Mass Transit Magazine_:



> Stakeholders joined Caltrain to celebrate successfully completing all 3,092 foundations for the new overhead catenary system (OCS) that will support electrified Caltrain service.
> 
> The 51-mile Caltrain Electrification project will be the first 25KV OCS system on the west coast and will provide power to the new state-of-the-art electric trains that will start arriving on the corridor in spring 2022.
> 
> ......



Caltrain celebrates installation of final foundation for electrification project


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## GiantsFan (Feb 2, 2022)

Pretty exciting! Ive been driving up and down the peninsula recently and a lot of the catenary looks finished. 

There was also movement on the DTX downtown extension that will eventually carry the electrified trains into downtown SF's transbay terminal, it was announced the project entered the FTA capital investment grants funding program


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## west point (Feb 3, 2022)

It will be embarrassing if one or more pothole foundations have to be redone later.


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## slasher-fun (Mar 10, 2022)

So... this happened. Apparently, electrification crew were on the tracks while trains were still running.








UPDATE: Caltrain Collision with Vehicle Causes Huge Fireball on Tracks in San Bruno; 13 Injured


A Caltrain engine slammed into a construction vehicle, ripping it in half and igniting its fuel tank into a massive fireball Thursday morning in a crash that injured 13 people, charred the outside of several passenger cars and shut down service on the busy San Francisco Peninsula commuter rail line.




sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com


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## west point (Mar 10, 2022)

Somebody messed up. Who, only time will tell? Dispatch., engineer, construction crew, equipment failure causing a sudden fouling, (blown tire for examples), distraction, signal failure of new installation, or another item.


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## George Harris (Mar 11, 2022)

This would have been a completely different situation if the train had been northbound. These trains are push-pull with the engine on the south end. If northbound it would have been with a coach leading and with that the near certainty of multiple fatalities in the leading car, probably including the engineer. My thought when riding this service, which I did regularly several years ago, is that if you see the engineer coming out of the cab and running down the aisle, don't ask, just get up and do likewise, because we are probably about to hit something.

I will make no guesses as to who and what was wrong here. It is certain that there will be an NTSB investigation. We may get some reasonably good and maybe even right answers earlier, but when the NTSB gets through every rock has been overturned.


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## Cal (Mar 11, 2022)

So was an F40 leading the train? I couldn't tell from that small video.


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## GiantsFan (Mar 13, 2022)

Cal said:


> So was an F40 leading the train? I couldn't tell from that small video.



Yes, F40 leading


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## west point (Mar 13, 2022)

Hopefully Caltrain has some spare poles in the replacement pipeline.
We have assumed that the delay is because of parts but is that really the problem?
The oil shortages are going to cause many persons to ride transit. IMO the oil shortages are not going to change in the next several years. Although not much gasoline will be saved but everyone who can use transit is maybe a 5-gallon not used.

Parts and spare parts are needed. Maybe time for the president to invoke the production act to speed up parts for transit and Amtrak?


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## GiantsFan (Mar 24, 2022)

First Caltrain Electrics Arrive


The Peninsula’s railroad just got its first modern railway equipment… its old belchy diesels will not be missed




sf.streetsblog.org





First trainset has arrived!!!


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## AmtrakMaineiac (Mar 24, 2022)

The writer of that article seems to be obsessed about "belchy" Diesels. I guess she doesn't consider the fact that one train pulled by a "belchy" Diesel takes a few hundred cars off the road.


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## MARC Rider (Mar 24, 2022)

AmtrakMaineiac said:


> The writer of that article seems to be obsessed about "belchy" Diesels. I guess she doesn't consider the fact that one train pulled by a "belchy" Diesel takes a few hundred cars off the road.


He has a point about concentrations of diesel locomotives in commuter service. When I started riding MARC in 2000, nearly all of the locomotives except for some AEM-7s on the Penn Line were Tier 0 (or Tier less than zero, i.e. "unregulated") diesels. The trainshed at Washington Union Sation was a smoky, smelly inferno, especially on a warm day. Going from the gate to the train was like running a gauntlet. I would somehow try to breath as little as possible while walking as fast as I could to get in front of everybody to snag a good seat. If I rode a train pulled by a diesel and the wind was right, I could see clouds of black smoke blowing by the window (which was fortunately sealed.) Occasionally in the B&P tunnel, you'd get the whiff of diesel inside the coaches.

Fortunately, as EPA tightened diesel emissions requirements and they got rid of the older locomotives, there have been great improvements on this front. The Chargers are particularly nice, having both diesel particulate emissions filters and SCR to get rid of the NOx. Unfortunately, even on the Penn Line, everything is diesel, I think there's only 1 or 2 MARC electric locomotives left.


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## daybeers (Mar 24, 2022)

MARC Rider said:


> If I rode a train pulled by a diesel and the wind was right, I could see clouds of black smoke blowing by the window (which was fortunately sealed.) Occasionally in the B&P tunnel, you'd get the whiff of diesel inside the coaches.


This still happens with the current old diesels.


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## Shawn Ryu (Jun 3, 2022)

Probably a dumb question but what will happened to Bombadier bilevel cars? Gallery cars they can retire for sure, but bilevel cars seems too young to retire.

Any chance they get electric locomotives (used from other agencies like NJ Transit or SEPTA)?


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## jis (Jun 3, 2022)

Shawn Ryu said:


> Probably a dumb question but what will happened to Bombadier bilevel cars? Gallery cars they can retire for sure, but bilevel cars seems too young to retire.
> 
> Any chance they get electric locomotives (used from other agencies like NJ Transit or SEPTA)?


I thought they were going to keep some of them for their Gilroy service, and get rid of the Gallery Cars.

Of course I am sure any surplus bi-levels can be palmed off to TriRail or Sunrail in Florida as they grow too. We are talking a total of 41 cars all told.


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## Shawn Ryu (Jun 3, 2022)

jis said:


> I thought they were going to keep some of them for their Gilroy service, and get rid of the Gallery Cars.
> 
> Of course I am sure any surplus bi-levels can be palmed off to TriRail or Sunrail in Florida as they grow too. We are talking a total of 41 cars all told.


Ah so they are only electrifying to San Jose.


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## jis (Jul 19, 2022)

Update on progress with EMUs



> Caltrain’s first electric trainset underwent clearance testing this past weekend along the corridor between Santa Clara and Tamien Stations.
> 
> The test is to ensure that the trains meet all clearance requirements to operate safely along the corridor.



Caltrain electric train clearance testing


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## jis (Oct 29, 2022)

Grade separation at the Broadway Station in Burlingame









Old Broadway train station in peril in Burlingame


Caltrain is preparing to construct a grade separation at the Broadway intersection in Burlingame; however, the build will mean the loss of the historically perceived old Broadway train station, current




www.smdailyjournal.com


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