Caltrain

The San Mateo County Transit District is the managing agency for the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which operates Caltrain. Along with its partners, the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, the District has worked to improve ridership and generate revenue on the commuter rail line. Since 2004, Caltrain has experienced record ridership and revenue growth and has won national attention for this success.

In fiscal year 2007, Caltrain carried 10.98 million riders, up 8.2 percent from the previous year, when it carried 10.15 million riders. At the same time, the commuter railroad generated $34.9 million in ticket and pass sales, a 14.8 percent increase over fiscal year 2006, with $30.4 million.

To lay the foundation for expanded service in the future, Caltrain has undertaken a number of upgrades and improvements.

Burlingame Station

Built in 1894, the Burlingame Caltrain Station is getting an extreme makeover. Although the historic station building will remain untouched, this project will improve the station’s safety and operating efficiency. Riders can look forward to new outside boarding platforms, a pedestrian plaza, enhanced landscaping, wider sidewalks, custom shelters and new station fencing.

The new design will prevent pedestrians from crossing the tracks except at designated crossing areas, which will be protected with pedestrian crossing gates.

Palo Alto and California Avenue Stations

A project to improve the Palo Alto and California Avenue stations will begin in fall 2007. The Palo Alto station will be modified to improve accessibility, while the California Avenue station will get new outside boarding platforms and a new pedestrian tunnel to cross between them.

Santa Clara Station

Plans are being developed to improve the Santa Clara station. Outside boarding platforms and a pedestrian tunnel to cross between them are among the planned upgrades.

CEMOF

Caltrain’s state-of-the-art Centralized Equipment Maintenance and Operations Facility will open in fall 2007. Located on the site of the old Southern Pacific rail yard in San Jose, CEMOF will accommodate daily inspections, routine maintenance, train washing and storage. The new facility will consolidate most of Caltrain’s existing maintenance facilities and is equipped to handle more complex maintenance.

North Terminal Project

Work on the North Terminal Project will be completed by the end of 2007. The project improved the track and signal system at Caltrain’s San Francisco terminal so that trains could run faster through the switches, reducing travel time and congestion. The project required replacing more than 2,000 wires in the San Francisco signal house.

Rail Safety

Over the last year, Caltrain redoubled its safety efforts with its “Don’t Shortcut Life” campaign. The agency reached out to community groups and contacted every school within one-half mile of its tracks in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, offering rail safety presentations.

Caltrain worked with every city along its mainline corridor to develop a comprehensive plan to install fencing at critical locations.

The agency also is working with cities in San Mateo County to improve safety at grade-crossings. This three-year project will include the installation of pedestrian gates and raised medians approaching crossings, as well as fences, to prevent people from taking unnecessary risks. A similar project is underway in Santa Clara County.

Caltrain 2025

In the wake of the success of its Baby Bullet service and reinvention in 2005, Caltrain has begun to explore what it will take to move to the next level of rail service. In order to meet future demand, Caltrain will need more trains, faster commute times, more frequent connections and better, more efficient infrastructure and equipment.

Caltrain 2025 is the result of this intensive evaluation. The plan takes a comprehensive look at all the construction projects currently in progress, as well as those in the planning stages. It focuses on infrastructure and capital improvements that will allow for expanded operations. The plan also addresses the impact of current railroad regulations on future expansion and the advantages of converting from diesel to electric power.