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Caltrain Nov. 1 awarded Amtrak a $231.4 million five-year service and maintenance contract.



"Under the current contract, Amtrak operates on a fixed-fee basis," said John Ficara, chief operating officer, in a prepared statement. "The new contract is a cost-plus arrangement, allowing Amtrak to continuously improve service quality. It also has provisions for incentives and assessments based on performance quality."



Additional terms of the contract — effective Nov. 11 — include annual customer service training, a service-quality monitoring program, 98 percent on-time performance compared with 95 percent and increased crosstie replacement.



Caltrain operates 80 weekday trains between San Francisco and San Jose, with commute-hour service to Gilroy, Calif. Weekend service is less frequent.