It has been over a month since Caltrain implemented all-electrified service between San Francisco and San Jose. After the first weekend of free service with various celebratory events along the line, weekday service had a rough start during the first two weeks, with significant interruptions causing delays of up to an hour.
In the first Caltrain Citizens Advisory Committee meeting after full electrification on October 16, John Hogan, Caltrain’s Chief Operating Officer, briefed the committee members on the various challenges the agency faced and what it is working on to improve on-time performance.
On the first day of fully electrified weekday service, an act of vandalism in San Mateo knocked out power and caused a small fire. Although this incident occurred earlier in the afternoon, it resulted in cascading delays that led to a service meltdown during the afternoon commute.
On the second day, a wire theft on the track caused single tracking for two days in San Francisco, resulting in delays. Due to ongoing copper wire theft, Caltrain is replacing them with theft-resistant wires made mostly of aluminum. Since taking control of the electric infrastructure from the contractor, Caltrain has lost and replaced about 5,000 feet of wire.
At the end of the first work week, there was a trespasser incident. The following week, Caltrain imposed speed restrictions for several days due to excessive heat.
While the factors causing massive delays were outside the agency’s control, Caltrain also faced issues within its control that led to smaller delays. According to Hogan, a significant issue is the positive train control, which periodically gives a false stop signal, triggering the emergency brake. The train engineer then has to take time to reset the PTC. There are an average of eight PTC failures a day. The agency is working with the PTC vendor to identify the cause.
Another issue, especially during the first week, is that the train engineers and conductors are still acclimating to operating electric trains. The same crews who now run the electric trains previously spent their careers at the agency operating slower diesel trains. The agency is enhancing training for the crews so they can be more effectively start and stop electric trains and stay on schedule.
Caltrain also faced issues with bike boarding because electric trains have bike cars in different locations than the old diesel trainsets. Cyclists initially wait at the north car, where one of the bike cars was on the diesel trains, and then had to run to the third car, where one of the bike cars is now. The agency staff initially wasn’t aware of the issue and didn’t consider putting up signage, but they are now planning to place decals to indicate bike car locations to speed up boarding.
Trains are also delayed when boarding disabled passengers with hand-crank lifts at stations without mini-high platforms. Caltrain had planned to install these at the remaining stations before full electrification, but construction faced delays. They are now expected to be completed in about a month.
Other committee members mentioned the 30 mph slow zone south of Redwood City, but Hogan didn’t have an immediate explanation for its existence.
Other issues that may not necessarily cause delays include horns that won’t shut off and horns that are too loud. Caltrain is working to reduce horn noise to just above the legal minimum to address recent noise complaints from the cities. The agency is also adjusting grade crossing circuits to reduce gate down time in areas where longer trains triggered the circuit to keep the gates down when the train stopped at the station.
While there may be a need to add time to improve schedule adherence, Hogan said he wants to give it a few months to see if the schedule works out as the issues are addressed.
I’ve heard comments from train crews and read on forums that the electrified schedule is too aggressive, but I’ve also been on trains that were on time. I’ve noticed gradual improvements as train engineers on electric trains accelerate and brake more rapidly, similar to BART and light rail. On those systems, train operators are solely trained to operate electric vehicles without prior experience with diesel trains. At the meeting, CAC chair Brian Shaw recalled his experience at Stanford, where shuttle bus operators needed time to acclimate to battery buses. If they drove them like diesel buses, the range of the battery buses would decrease.
Overall, electrification of Caltrain was a complex project, and unlike a new rail extension, there were limited opportunities to test the infrastructure and train crews since Caltrain must maintain regular rail operations. Unfortunately during the first week, Caltrain encountered multiple problems that it couldn’t control. Otherwise, my experience on the new trains is positive. They are faster, quieter, and much smoother than the old gallery cars. The half-hour off-peak and weekend service is wonderful. There are certainly issues to work out, but I am pleased that electric trains are up and running and that Caltrain is becoming the kind of rapid transit line that this part of the Bay Area has long needed.