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July-August 2002

Caltrain Unveils Low Floor Rail Cars

stopping only at a few selected stations and

bypassing local trains.

The June 28 festivities began with a

rousing welcome at the South San Francisco

station by San Mateo County Supervisor

Mike Nevin, chair of the Caltrain board.

Representatives from Herzog Contracting

Corp. and Stacy and Witbeck Inc. showed

off specialized construction equipment for

the northern portion of the construction

project dubbed "North CTX." Two workers

in hard hats gave a smoky demonstration of

how to build continuously welded rail using

red-hot coals.

The new low-floor Caltrain cars soon

arrived at the station and carried state

Senator Jackie Speier, who sponsored the

2000 legislation to fund the Baby Bullet

program, members of the media, and other

participants to the ceremony at the 4th and

King station.

In San Francisco, Supervisor Nevin

skillfully opened the formal ceremonies with

a warm and congratulatory tone. The

ceremony included speeches by Governor

Davis, California Secretary of Business,

Transportation and Housing Maria

Contreras-Sweet, Senator Speier, and

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

(MTC) Commissioner Sue Lempert.

Senator Speier recalled back when

Matier and Ross of San Francisco Chronicle

reported her proposal to fund Caltrain two

years ago, the governor quickly contacted

her and adopted her plan into his

Transportation Congestion Relief Plan

(TCRP) funding package. The Caltrain Baby

Bullet is the only major rail program to be

fully funded using monies from the state

surplus in 2000. Governor Davis touted this

investment in Caltrain, as well as $20

million that he has appropriated for the

Caltrain extension to Salinas.

Many other dignitaries also attended,

including Jeff Morales, Director of Caltrans

(the state Department of Transportation), and

John McLemore, Caltrain board member and

MTC Commissioner from Santa Clara

County who is running for mayor of the city

of Santa Clara this November. After the

ceremony, Governor Davis rode the new train

to South San Francisco.

The low floor railcars, made by

Bombardier, are nearly identical to the cars

used by Altamont Commuter Express between

Stockton and San Jose, Metrolink in Los

Angeles, and Coaster in San Diego. Caltrain

purchased the railcars from Sound Transit of

the Seattle area. Sound Transit initially had

purchased and painted the cars but was

unable to use them due to lack of funding.

For many years, BayRail Alliance has

advocated the purchase of low floor railcars.

These cars provide greatly improved

accessibility and ride quality over the gallery

cars currently used by Caltrain.

While the low floor cars were

purchased for the "Baby Bullet" service, they

will be used on regular local service before

the super express service begins in late 2003.

The CTX project marks a major

milestone for Caltrain. Secretary Maria

Contreras-Sweet emphasized the advantages

of upgrading Caltrain in her speech at the

groundbreaking. She stated that the

Governor and other public officials, through

their decision to fund the largest capital

improvement project in Caltrain's history,

recognize the potential for significant

transportation improvements by upgrading

existing rail infrastructure.

Sen. Jackie Speier described the CTX

project as an important step toward the

creation of a statewide high-speed rail

system. With the outpouring of support for

Caltrain express service by public officials,

BayRail aims to further its advocacy efforts

to make electrification, the downtown San

Francisco extension, Dumbarton Rail, and

statewide high-speed rail a reality.

[

Groundbreaking

, from page 1]

A decline in sales taxes and fare

revenue during this economic recession is

resulting in service cuts for riders of Caltrain

and connecting transit services.

Train cuts

- According to the recently

approved operating budget, Caltrain will

adjust its schedules to eliminate two round-

trip trains. The service reduction is planned

to start in September.

Caltrain shuttles 80X, 81X, and 82X -

Originally proposed to be eliminated, under a

new agreement with Muni, the number of trips

on these bus routes will be reduced instead,

especially in the afternoon. Also, Muni will

assume the operating subsidy for 82X

between downtown and the Presidio. The

changes in the express shuttle service will

take effect in September as well.

Cuts in VTA services

- Recently VTA reduced

the frequency of the light rail and route 10

Airport Flyer from every 10 minutes to every

15 minutes. In addition, bus routes 41 and 43

have been eliminated, which serve Caltrain

riders from Lawrence station.

Transit Service

Reduction Expected

Passengers board the new low-floor car at South San Francisco station (left). Governor Gray Davis is interviewed by reporters

while riding the new "Baby Bullet" car. Caltrans director Jeff Morales sits behind him (right). (Photos: Margaret Okuzumi)