SJ Maintenance Facility

[Ben]

With Caltrain building a new San Jose maintenance facility, could Amtrak share with it? Perhaps extend all Capitols down to SJ and perhaps even the Zephyr?

 

[AmtrakFan]

No Amtrak just build a new Facility in Oakland so it wouldn't be smart to.

 

[battalion51]

Also don't forget the state of California would have to initiate an agreement with the Joint Powers Board to bring the Capitols down, since it's the Joint Powers Board that owns the facility, and CalDOT is the one who pays for the Capitols to run.

 

[sechs]

I've always given to the impression that it's UP's track that limits the number of trips to San Jose, not the necessity of any kind of facility there. Aren't they making track improvements to that end?

 

[tp49]

They are gearing up to run more Capitols down to San Jose. The double tracking of the line between Oakland and Fremont should be done this week. There is mention of it in the Capitol Corridor newsletter which was posted in another thread.

 

[jccollins]

I agree that two expensive passenger train maintenance facilities only about 40 miles apart is quite foolish. During the groundbreaking for the new Oakland Amtrak facility a few months back I raised this issue. I can't understand why the funds weren't pooled with Caltrain to build a larger state of the art facility in San Jose to service all of the Bay Area trains and then possibly extend the Zephyr, San Joaquins and more Capitols to San Jose for servicing. Show YouPee a little more $$$ and it could happen.

Speaking of YouPee, the CCJPA and its director Eugene Skoropowski are quite pissed off at the YouPee right now for their total disregard on dispatching the Capitol Corridor trains. For those of you who haven't seen it, you should read his most recent letter to riders over on the Capitol Corridor Rail Mail E-Newsletters thread.

 

[sechs]

I disagree that the two maintenance facilities are expensive or foolish.

Caltrain's facility includes an operations building, wash, and storage tracks, as well as the actual maintenance bays. It is designed for Caltrain's fleet of commuter cars and engines. Except for operations, these are new functions for Caltrain, which was sending engines and cars to facilities in Los Angeles and Oakland (among other places).

Amtrak's facility has a main shop, wash, and a service and inspection area. It is designed to maintain Amtrak California's fleet of engines and cars; and service trains using these cars, as well as Amtrak's long-distance trains. This replaced an older facility in Oakland.

Considering the space constraints in San Jose, their intended purposes, and the distance and tracks between the two, I don't see how Caltrain and Amtrak could share a facility.