#caltrain

Amid Bid to Save Bay Area Transit, Muni Gets a Campaign of Its Own | KQED

Rider fares, fees, tax revenue, and grants that funded transit systems collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

70% of BART’s funding came from rider fares and parking fees that haven’t recovered. Transit agencies can’t provide pre-pandemic service with post-pandemic funding.

Ridership won’t recover by closing stations, the cable car lines, running fewer trains and buses, and ending service at 9:00pm. Sustainable service requires a more sustainable funding source.

The campaign aims to put a parcel tax measure on the November ballot that, if approved by voters, would generate around $160 million for Muni annually in order to help stave off those cuts. I

t’s one of two campaigns now underway to generate revenue for Bay Area transit agencies.

The campaign for the Connect Bay Area Act, a regional sales tax measure that would generate around $1 billion annually for Muni, AC Transit, BART and Caltrain, among others, began gathering signatures in late January.

The tax measures will provide ongoing funding. They are not one time grants that will run out in a few years.

The ‘Grand Central Of The West’ Will Link To CA’s High-Speed Rail — Here’s The Giant Tunnel Project Happening Under SF’s Streets

Plans to bring Caltrain and California High-Speed Rail to downtown San Francisco have been in the works since 1994, and the project is getting close to starting construction.

While the two-story “train box” is already built, it’s still missing a tunnel to connect it to the future rail line. The Downtown Rail Extension, now called The Portal, is a 1.3-mile tunnel that will link Caltrain’s current terminal at 4th & King to Salesforce Transit Center. This will ultimately create a connection to 11 transit systems from the Bay Area and Southern California. 

The project already has federal environmental clearance and is in the process of advancing design and funding agreements. According to a project schedule on the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA) website, tunnel construction will begin in 2028-29, and the tunnel should be ready for service in 2035.

Advocates Breathe Sigh of Relief: Transit Disaster Averted for Now - Streetsblog San Francisco

A $590 million short-term state loan will save the SFMTA, BART, Caltrain, and AC Transit from drastic cuts, for now.

“This emergency loan is a critical band-aid. It holds off disastrous transit cuts until long-term, significant funding can come through from the Connect Bay Area measure,” said Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who championed the loan along with Senator Jesse Arreguin (D-Berkeley), in a joint statement.

“We spent much of the past year negotiating this loan with regional stakeholders and the Governor, and I’m immensely proud that we got it over the finish line.”

Connect Bay Area is a regional funding measure that will add a half-cent sales tax in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, and a full cent in San Francisco for 14 years.

The measure is projected to raise around $1 billion a year.

september 2025 • caltrain

Fun Fact: studies find the migratory silver-haired bat is able to navigate with near 99.8% accuracy due to its incredible awarness of electromagnetic radition. A similar phenomenon has recently been identified in caltrain passangers who navigate using the plethora of almost stereotypically predictable bay area wifi networks.

Intense Railroad Switching SP

i <3 solitaire and public transit

Amtrak San Joaquins Becomes Gold Runner, Marking a New Era for California Passenger Rail – San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority

San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) announced the rebrand on Monday, Nov. 3 —launching November 14th at the ACE yard.

… IDK why? I think I have used and will still use the #capitol-corridor and #san-joaquin tags here #gold-runner

Over the years, the odd one out of Bay Area passenger services—"cabbages"🥬 Semen Siemens locos, single-level Venture cars,

Former Caltrain Equipment Taking One Last Ride Through San Francisco on way to Perú

🔴🔵SPIDERMAN HACE ESPECTÁCULO ENCIMA DE LOS TRENES DE CALTRAIN#noticiastiktok #exitosanoticias #tiktoknews #exitosa #peru🇵🇪 #viraltiktok #viralvideos #viralvideotiktok #spiderman #spidermanacrossthespiderverse #tren

we chose the right country to sell to

shoutout peru 🇵🇪

i love you caltrain i love you public transit

As much as it may pain me, I have to set aside my Northeast Corridor snobbery and admit that Caltrain is showing the rest of the U.S. how a regional rail line ought to run.

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Reddit - Dive into anything

Edit: found him, thank you all

Hi,

I’m looking for the guy I saw today on the Caltrain from SF heading towards San Jose. I’m the brunette (I’m a girl, don’t look at my username) with straight hair, coat, you were looking at me the whole time. I’m sorry I was too shy to talk to you… I was with my friend (curly hair). You are in your early 30s, freckles, glasses and Asian. You helped my friend when she asked you which track to go on and you said 624. Hope to hear from you:)

Train from SF heading to San Jose, time: 1pm on 2/23/2025 we got off at Palo Alto Caltrain Station

PS. If anyone knows someone with this description, it would be great to let them know about this:)

I think this sort of thing is cute and heartwarming :)

One of Caltrain’s new electric trainsets boarding at 4th & King.

Ridership Of Bay Area Caltrain Is Up Drastically Following A Transition To New Electric Trains

Whodathunkit?

Caltrain is a commuter rail line running between San Francisco and San José, and it began electric service last month.

This is a huge deal because it cuts the travel time between San Francisco and San José (the 17th and 13th largest cities in the US, by population) by 25%.

A local train making all stops went from 100 to 75 minutes, limited stops trains to a little over an hour, and peak hourexpress trains from 75 to 59. It’s by the slimmest margin, but it took an incredible amount of work to get to “under an hour.”

The new trains are called “electrical multiple units” (abbreviated “EMU”), and a lot of that speed up is due to the fact that every wheel is motorized, and they all start and stop together instead of getting jerked around from the pushing and pulling of the locomotive at the end.

caltrain: we provide high-speed wifi on our trains so our commuters can be productive on their way to-

me: *logs on to Tumblr*

Caltrain’s “Last” F40 Diesel + Gallery Car Train Between San Francisco and San Jose