Caltrain rolls out all-electric fleet in San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO -- California is on a mission to replace technologies that rely on fossil fuels with those that use electricity and, on Saturday in San Francisco, local, state and federal leaders celebrated Caltrain's move to all-electric trains which some are calling a model for the future.
Caltrain is the oldest operating rail line west of the Mississippi, created in 1863 by Pres. Abraham Lincoln. In the 1950s, the old steam engines gave way to diesel locomotives and it's been that way ever since.
Until now. The age of electrified trains is now a reality in California.
"This is a project that is going to remake rail in the Peninsula for literally decades and centuries to come," said Caltrain spokesman Dan Lieberman.
At a cost of nearly $2.5 billion, Caltrain now has a fleet of 37 electrified trains. Media and invited guests were treated to a round-trip run from San Francisco to the Millbrae station Saturday but not before elected officials took a victory lap of their own.
"We love to say about California -- we love to say about San Francisco -- that the future happens here first. We are America's coming attraction," said Gov. Gavin Newsom. "That's a point of pride. It's also a point of privilege and it's also, I think, a point of spirit that marks this moment. Because we don't imitate -- we are a model to others."
"This is also a housing issue. It's an economic issue," said House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi. "Because, in all of these initiatives that we do in the Congress when we're talking about funding for any of this, it's about what is the economic development that will spring from it?"
So far, the economics has been slow to spring back. Ridership on Caltrain is still only about 38 percent of its pre-pandemic level. Luis Zurinaga worked for 15 years on the electrification project and said the faster acceleration of the new trains, which should shorten the trip by 20 percent, may help to bring riders back.
"The train is faster, so the trips are going to be shorter in time," Zurinaga said. "So, you know, that speed tends to attract people."
The new ride may be smooth and quiet but the struggle to get funding wasn't. Representative Anna Eshoo got a deal for the electrification project by pairing it with high-speed rail, only to have then-majority leader Kevin McCarthy scuttle the plan just as construction was about to begin.
"But you know what? We beat him. We beat him and this is the win today," she said. "You know what it is? It's gratifying, too. It's gratifying that, in our day, in our time, we have produced something so significant for the people of our region."
There's another reason the electrification was so important. Officials want to extend Caltrain underground all the way to the Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco, connecting it with all the other Bay Area transportation systems. That meant it had to be electric-power, because you can't safely operate a diesel train inside a tunnel that long.
Two of the new electric trains will be put into service starting Sunday, Aug. 11. Caltrain said it plans to fully launch its electrified service Saturday, Sept. 21.