In the Capital Improvement Plan approved by the board in November, Caltrain listed a 10+ year, $600 million program to upgrade its platforms to provide level boarding. Now that Caltrain is running all-electric trains between San Francisco and San Jose Tamien, it is possible to get started on this valuable program that will cut dwell time at stations, saving nearly as much time for passengers as the $2 billion electrification program, while making the service much more reliable, more accessible for people with disabilities, and more convenient for people with strollers, luggage and bikes.
Unfortunately, it looks like Caltrain is not planning significant construction that would start to provide speed and reliability benefits until the 2030s. A technical roadmap report analyzing design options seems to frame the motivation for the project as the legal obligation to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act for new and upgraded stations at the Salesforce Terminal and a revamped Diridon Station. The legal obligation applies to new and overhauled stations but existing stations are grandfathered out of legal obligation.
Rather than waiting until there is a legal requirement, Caltrain would benefit from looking at this project proactively as an improvement that could slash eight more minutes of travel time, make the train even more competitive with driving, and increase ridership while improving accessibility.
Of course, Caltrain’s immediate top priority is and should be operating funding to maintain and improve service, given the financial challenges caused by changed post-pandemic travel patterns.
The technical roadmap report hadn’t been presented publicly by the agency, but was solicited via public records request and posted by a technically oriented blogger