@@expojam1473They're quality trains, but to be honest, I think their standard designs are becoming a bit bland. I think the round body of a Talent 3 is nicer, for example. But anyway, I like the design of the Caltrain EMU with this paint scheme.
@@Ghosesen They do intend to up the top speeds from 79mph to 110mph eventually. With the acceleration of these electric trainsets, it's still possible to reach those speeds for a long enough period of time. Especially with express services skipping stations The thing holding this back is FRA regulations preventing a higher speed without either grade separations or upgraded crossings at all current at-grade crossings on the corridor, so that's something to be addressed for later
@@dragoxphere3341 It's so amazing. I remember when they first announced the electrification, then the trainsets. It's so cool to see all this come to fruition.
Watching from the east coast, and it's great to see more regions of the US finally benefit from the electric trains we take for granted. I'm actually a bit jealous of those nice Stadler trains, too.
Watching from the Boston area, and I wish we had any electric Commuter Rail trains here. The Northeast Corridor line to Providence (and thence to New Haven, New York, and points beyond) is electrified, but the MBTA refuses to use the electrification, and uses diesel locomotives instead, refusing to get even dual-mode locomotives (like the ALP-45DP units that New Jersey Transit has). The MBTA's own Fiscal Control Board has said that the MBTA needs to electrify its Commuter Rail, but the MBTA is REAL GOOD at coming up with excuses why things cannot be done, despite the fact that they have been done for a long time in, for instance, New Jersey. And then they come up with idiotic proposals like battery multiple unit trains for the Fairmount Line . . . .
Please Caltrain give us a cabview ride along, preferably along the entire electrification route from your brand new Stradlers in 4K. Hope I’m not asking for too much. 😊
Cannot wait to see California High Speed trains running this route. It would be nice to have more trains like this all over the U.S. What a beautiful train.
@@JohnNackyou can put HSR on a normal linę, but don't expect too much on this one… no sidings and countless level crossings means 100-125mph, not more.
Yes and no. Maybe BART should have been built on this right-of-way. But of course, peninsula residents don't want the greasy East Bay-ers (like me) to have such easy access to their communities.
@@jre617 Wait a minute. You are proposing having ONE system with unified equipment and standards that would simplify operations and maintenance AND result in economies of scale? Are you intentionally trying to get yourself into a straight jacket and locked in a rubber room?
See don't get me wrong, I love our silver tin can train liveries but this new livery by Caltrain just feels so modern, even futuristic perhaps! Wish we embraced some more color when it comes to our train designs!.
I was wondering why those looked like Switzerland's SBB S Bahn trains. I had no idea y'all were getting Stadler KISS units. Rare to see them used by anyone outside of Switzerland or Germany.
There are some in service, Hungary and Serbia. There is a Russian gauge variant in service in Russia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. Sweden and Austria ordered a high speed variant (KISS 200).
That’s probably because they’re built by the same company! Stadler built the Riverline trains back in the early 2000s and the new Caltrain EMUs just a few years ago, but I guess they’re still using the same (admittedly very European-sounding) horn.
@@aaronmiller5012 Yeah, early time they said service between San Jose and Gilroy will be MP36 and Bombardier Bi-level. So, they gonna get rid of F40s and galleries. But actually I like F40 and gallery more.
They start in september 2024 with those electric trains. SJ to SF express line will be under 1 hour and local service 75 minutes instead of 100 minutes (source online community meeting on youtube)
@@jonfalkenburg1404It’s not necessarily Caltrain, more is it the California High Speed Rail Authority’s plan as they plan to have trains run on this corridor.
I absolutely cannot wait for these babies to enter revenue service! This is truly the biggest thing to happen to passenger rail in the US in decades, and it's right here in the Bay Area. And speaking of passenger rail, I hope that the service increases *do* materialize so we can start calling it passenger rail and not merely a commuter train, a term that's as outdated as the diesel behemoths these beauties will replace.
But how many trainsets are currently ready for service? When will regular service begin? What is the estimated timeframe for the entire fleet to be replaced? How many trainsets will there be and are they all the same length? Does the catenary extend south of SJ? Will there be any attempt to increase train speeds? And other questions.
They start in september 2024 with the electric trains for regular service. SJ to SF express line will be under 1 hour and local service 75 minutes instead of 100 minutes (source online community meeting on youtube)
1. There are 38 trainsets planned to be built, with 5 (last i checked, like 2 months ago) currently on CalTrain property 2. September 2024 at best 3. Service from SF to SJ will be entirely electric, with SJ to Gilroy still using (newer) diesel trains until CA High Speed Rail makes it to SF 4. Technically it does go behind SJ, with Tamien station on the near south side being the terminus of electrification 5. Yes, 110 MPH is the target
A US safety thing that other countries manage without it. The bell is used whenever the train is near a place congested places, like a station or roadway workers, when slowing down, starting and before crossings near around people - so generally when ever someone or something might pop up on the tracks. in some cases (like crossings) they will also sound the horn. In other places the engineer will maybe sound a short horn sound before a level crossing.
The yanks get confused by trains and don't really know how to deal with them, so they require extra measures. There're some new trains in Florida; at level crossings cars and pedestrians run into them like flies banging against a window. Something's not right with people's brain functions; could be the PFAS "forever-chemicals" seeping into the water table, I don't know.
@@vedaantvyas466 It's still useful for intercity trains like CAHASR. Of course, the main challenge is to remove all the level crossings alongside the occasional curves which have to be smoothened out and placing additional tracks for more capacity.
f40’s and gallery cars are probably being scrapped or sold and the mp36’s and the mpi f40’s and bombardier cars are staying for another few years Edit: the MPI F40’s might be going aswell since i saw a post of Caltrain saying to someone that “All The F40’s” are going to be sold or scrapped but 919 is most likely getting scrapped due to the damage
Locomotives 900-919 will as well as the gallery cars from the 1980s will be retired. Caltrain will likely keep locomotives 920-928, the bombardier cars and the gallery cars from 2000, although they may only need to keep three diesel locomotives for Gilroy service - Caltrain should sell their MP36s to Metra (they REALLY need to replace their F40s which are super old and outdated).
When they start in september 2024 SJ to SF express line will be under 1 hour and local service 75 minutes instead of 100 minutes (source online community meeting on youtube)
Maximum allowable speed isn't the only thing setting station to station times. Accellerating faster with more powered wheels also reduces trip times, and these EMUs will allow a faster, more frequent schedule.
Caltrains ridership is STILL 1/3rd of what it was pre-COVID and every indication it's never going to get back to even half so makes one wander what Caltrain plans to do with empty new EMUs.
The current Caltrain trains are only capable of commuter service, and not many tech workers are commuting to work any more. But the new EMUs are capable of subway-level service that is frequent enough and fast enough to compete with driving for everyday transportation needs in the Peninsula. So the new EMUs should unlock an entirely new market of riders for Caltrain.
@@my2iu This! Starting in September this year, 2024, Caltrain will run at 15 minute frequencies! It will basically become just like another BART line! The Bay is getting its second S-bahn with this Caltrain upgrade! Exiting times for Bay transit.
@@TohaBgood2 Well, sort of. They will run 4 trains per hour (not necessarily every 15 minutes) during PEAK PERIODS ONLY (7 AM to 10 AM and 3 PM to 7 PM, weekdays only) and run 2 trains per hour (again, not necessarily every 30 minutes) the rest of the day and on weekends. And as for the parent comment, i believe CalTrain set a new ridership record, so that is false.
That’s it? You call that full speed? That’s rather slow to me, almost a waste of money to build and buy stuff that isn’t going to be faster or more frequent than current schedule.
Lol, it will literally be both faster and more frequent than the current schedule. Caltrain will run at 15 minute frequencies like BART starting in September and the trip will actually be substantially faster due to the better acceleration of the EMU trains. You're wrong on two out of two of your points somehow 😁😁😁
I hope you know that the speed of the train is not the issue here but the maximum allowed speed of the track itself. Rails need to be layed down and build different for higher speeds