Kiana Chen

Caltrain’s new electric train stops at the Belmont Station and picks up passengers. Since its first study looking into a possibility of electric trains in 1992, Caltrain’s newest fleet allow for trains that are faster, more frequent, and better for the environment. Along with their new fares, these trains are connecting commuters from San Francisco to Gilroy.

Public transportation in the Bay Area reached an exciting milestone with Caltrain’s new fleet of 23 electric trains, promising bigger, faster, and more frequent trains while reducing its carbon footprint.

A month after launching its first regular service on Aug. 11, Caltrain deployed the entire fleet with a new schedule on Sept. 21.

To celebrate, electrification service launch parties were hosted at stations along the Caltrain corridor from Gilroy to San Francisco to celebrate this milestone. The city of Belmont hosted its launch party at the Belmont Caltrain station on Sept. 22, featuring information on new trains and schedules, free activities, ice cream, and community booths.

“Being able to ride on these new trains and feel the difference between this fleet and the old fleet is wonderful,” said Dan Lieberman, the Public Information Officer for Caltrain. 

According to Lieberman, Caltrain had over 10,000 RSVPs for the launch parties. Throughout the weekend, the public enjoyed free rides courtesy of Caltrain to experience the new locomotives.

One of the most significant benefits of the new electric trains is the reduction of air pollution in the community. According to Lieberman, the shift to electric power will allow the new trains to go from 100% to 0% carbon emissions. 

“The new trains are going to drastically shrink our carbon footprint, removing 250,000 metric tons of carbon from the air every year,” Lieberman said. 

By removing 75% of its diesel trains, Caltrain aims to reduce emissions equivalent to taking 55,000 cars off the road each year, improving local air quality. The $2.4 billion project also focuses on increasing the speed of the trains, allowing Caltrain to be a more viable option for commuters. 

“These trains are much faster to accelerate and decelerate than our previous fleet which is important because it means that we can run more frequent service,” Lieberman said.

According to Caltrain, the new electric trains can run from San Francisco to San Jose in under an hour, increasing service by 20%. For instance, the express route now includes more routes, with trains running every 15-20 minutes during peak hours at 16 of the 28 Caltrain stations. 

Ben Mangiafico is a sophomore at Carlmont High School and president of the school’s Transportation Club. He has been on many new electric train rides, including the first electric train in San Francisco at the beginning of August. 

“The best part about the new trains is definitely the speed. The trip here from San Francisco felt fast, and it was only 35 minutes. That’s pretty faster than a car,” Mangiafico said. “The new schedule also allows trip times to be more competitive with driving in many cases, which is great for trying to convince people to take the train.”

The new weekend and weekday schedules provide more reliable train service every half-hour. This is a major improvement for many riders who use the train to commute to work or school daily. 

Shiv Dutt is a freshman at Design Tech High School in Redwood City. It takes 30 minutes for Dutt to travel from his home in San Francisco to school using Caltrain. According to him, the new schedule makes taking the train much more convenient. 

“On the first day of school, I missed the train home and had to wait an hour for the next one. I’m hoping with the new schedule if I ever miss the train again, I won’t have to wait as long,” Dutt said. 

For students like Dutt, the new amenities on the trains also allow for work between rides. These include the addition of more tables, storage and outlets at each seat, as well as free Wi-Fi.

Additionally, each train has seven cars, two of which are bike cars. These allow for up to 72 bikes on board. Riders can also feel safer leaving their bikes in the designated bike car with new cameras installed for security. 

Marc Sidel, another Caltrain customer, rode on the train with his bike during the opening weekend of the new Caltrain schedule. 

“My experience riding on the train was fantastic. It seems like there were more bike cars and more storage space, so it looks like they have more capacity, which is exciting,” Sidel said. 

Furthermore, youth riders are also receiving economic benefits from the new trains. Starting Sept. 1, Caltrain also decreased its youth ticket prices to $1 for a one-way trip anywhere on the Caltrain and $2 for a two-way ticket. 

“For anyone on the younger side of things, get on board and just go explore something on our beautiful peninsula,” Lieberman said. “Caltrain is a wonderful system. It has gone through some really major improvements, and it is cheaper than it has ever been for young people to get on board.” 

As a youth rider, Mangiafico makes the most of the cheap prices. For students, the train opens an easy option for public transportation to travel and explore the Bay Area with friends and family. 

“Youth riders are just the kind of customers that Caltrain wants to be attracting because they eventually become adult riders,” Mangiafico said.  

Since the pandemic, where commuters primarily consist of nine-to-five and tech workers, Caltrain has been looking for ways to increase its ridership. Now, with many Bay Area companies offering remote work options, ridership numbers have remained lower than before COVID-19. However, Caltrain has reported ridership steadily increasing with each year since 2021.

“We have been looking at a wider range of services for more nontraditional workers: students that aren’t necessarily traveling within commuting hours, and people who are looking for recreational travel,” Lieberman said.

Over time, Caltrain has established connections to other public transportation systems such as SamTrans, BART, MUNI, and VTA, as well as the San Francisco International Airport and San Jose Mineta International Airport. 

Looking towards the future, Lieberman says that Caltrain is looking to connect to AC Transit and high-speed rail lines. According to him, Caltrain has already made efforts in San Francisco to extend tracks to the Salesforce Transit Center with the Portal Project to give people access to job centers and other opportunities along the entire Caltrain corridor. 

“With high-speed rails constantly developing, it can open us up to having customers from Los Angeles who come in on them and want to continue to explore the area once they get there,” Lieberman said.

According to Lieberman, the next steps for Caltrain’s 100% electrification process include a hybrid battery train extension on a portion of the corridor from San Jose’s Tamien Station to Gilroy, where overhead electric lines haven’t been installed yet.

After seeing the massive positive effects of the new electric trains, Lieberman hopes that these new features and community benefits will give more people a reason to go to their local station and ride the Caltrain. 

“The new electric trains been a transformative change and I can’t wait for people to get on board and see it for themselves,” Lieberman said.