Caltrain OKs 20-year service vision

[Editor’s Note: This story and headline was updated on Oct. 9 to clarify that Caltrain’s board approved the 2040 Service Vision, not the business plan. The business plan will be in approved in 2020.]

Caltrain's board yesterday adopted a long-term service vision to help define its business plan for the next 20 years of commuter-rail service in California.

The 2040 Service Vision sets a target for the railroad that ensures Caltrain can continue to meet the region's growing mobility needs, while making the best use of the projects and investments planned and under construction along the corridor, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

The plan calls for fast and frequent service to be the standard, they said. It includes plans to: 

• operate eight trains per direction, per hour and increase off-peak and weekend services;
• add electrified service from Gilroy to San Francisco in both directions; and
• prepare for expansion and integrate into a regional rail network, including an extension to downtown San Francisco, a potential renewed rail corridor across the Dumbarton Bridge in Newark and enhancements at Diridon Station in San Jose.

The plan also outlines the possibility of a future shared corridor with high-speed rail, and considers opportunities presented by a second Transbay crossing, expanded service to the Monterey Peninsula and investments along the Altamont Corridor Express and Capital Corridor services.

To accomplish those goals, Caltrain officials said they will begin incremental development of corridor projects and infrastructure, including an improved signal system, station modifications, improved maintenance and storage facilities, and a series of short, four-track stations that allow express trains to overtake locals.