Finally, CalTrain is realizing folks are not that interested in their trains. They are going to cut back on the number of trains running. This is a good sign.
“Melissa Jones, deputy director of policy development, said that ridership has plummeted, population projections have flattened and financing has become more constrained.
“The justification for expanded growth, all that excitement we saw back in 2019, it’s eroded,” Jones told the board yesterday.
So Jones is recommending updating the service vision to call for up to 12 trains per hour, including four high-speed rail trains.
Other impacts
The updated vision will cut costs for construction projects, such as developing near the tracks, adding passing tracks or separating crossings from the road, Jones s aid.”
Costs are up, voters are no longing willing to finance a scam. Ridership is down. Too bad the State has a $310 billion plan to “expand” trains—where will the money come from? Not the Feds. Not the voters? Not from the farebox. Sacramento is bankrupt. Maybe they can rip off the Chinese Communist Party?
Caltrain will reduce its plan to increase the number of trains it runs each hour
BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT, Daily Post, 6/6/25 https://padailypost.com/2025/06/06/caltrain-will-reduce-its-plan-to-increase-the-number-of-trains-it-runs-each-hour/
Caltrain is ditching its plan to drastically increase the number of trains running per hour, but board members are still wondering if the agency is being realistic about its future.
Caltrain currently runs four trains per hour in each direction during peak commute times.
The agency’s “long-range service vision” approved in October 2019 calls for up to 16 trains per hour, including four high-speed rail trains in each direction.
Falling ridership
Melissa Jones, deputy director of policy development, said that ridership has plummeted, population projections have flattened and financing has become more constrained.
“The justification for expanded growth, all that excitement we saw back in 2019, it’s eroded,” Jones told the board yesterday.
So Jones is recommending updating the service vision to call for up to 12 trains per hour, including four high-speed rail trains.
Other impacts
The updated vision will cut costs for construction projects, such as developing near the tracks, adding passing tracks or separating crossings from the road, Jones said.
Cities across the Peninsula use Caltrain’s service vision to make decisions around expensive grade separations, which involve building bridges or underpasses that don’t need any gates.
Board members said Thursday that they are skeptical of reaching even 12 trains per hour.
High-speed rail
Palo Alto Councilman Pat Burt said the costs and timeline for finishing high-speed rail keep going up and getting delayed.
The Trump administration announced plans on Wednesday to pull $4 billion in funding from high-speed rail, calling the project “a boondoggle.”
“The notion that we’re going to have four (high-speed rail) trains an hour is pretty close to a fiction,” Burt said Thursday.
Caltrain is locked into an agreement with the California High-Speed Rail Authority to accommodate four trains, Executive Director Michelle Bouchard said.
Caltrain has indicated that passing tracks would go in Redwood City and around California Avenue in Palo Alto.
Skepticism remains
San Francisco board member Steve Heminger agreed yesterday that even the reduced service vision is unrealistic, specifically its inclusion of a rebuilt line along the Dumbarton Bridge and a connection to Monterey.
“I wonder if it would make more sense to start with a blank piece of paper,” Heminger said about the service vision.
Santa Clara County Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga questioned the cost of running diesel trains from San Jose to Gilroy, and whether the extension could be run more efficiently.
Bouchard said she will discuss the board’s feedback with her team and return in the fall.
