Electrification of Caltrain | Wikipedia audio article
Channel: wikipedia tts
Date: 2019-01-16

This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrification_of_Caltrain


00:03:29 1 History
00:03:39 1.1 Background
00:05:21 1.2 Early electrification proposals
00:11:14 1.3 Caltrain/HSR blended system
00:15:19 1.4 Lawsuits
00:19:21 1.5 Contracts awarded
00:24:45 1.6 Federal funding interruption
00:33:23 1.7 Construction begins
00:35:06 2 Funding
00:36:22 3 Design
00:41:24 3.1 Electrical station configuration
00:46:34 3.2 Construction plans
00:50:23 3.3 Tunnel modifications
00:51:37 3.4 FRA waiver and CBOSS PTC
00:54:15 3.5 Rolling stock



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SUMMARY
=======
The Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod) is a $1.9 billion project that will add a positive train control (PTC) system and electrify the main line of the U.S. commuter railroad Caltrain, which serves cities in the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley, as well as transition from its current diesel-electric locomotive powered trains to electric multiple units (EMU). According to Caltrain, electrification of the tracks will allow it to improve service times via faster acceleration and shorter headways, reduce air pollution and noise, and facilitate a future railway tunnel (the Downtown Rail Extension) into downtown San Francisco's Transbay Transit Center (as diesel trains cannot serve underground stations).
Proposals for electrifying the line began as early as 1992, when the California Department of Transportation conducted an early feasibility study. For two decades, the project lay dormant due to lack of funding until Caltrain agreed to share its tracks with the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), which was looking for a route for the constitutionally-mandated San Jose—San Francisco segment. The Authority agreed to partially fund the electrification project in exchange for rights to share the track. Construction contracts for electrification were awarded on July 2016 and groundbreaking was expected to occur in March 2017, but was delayed when the new United States Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao indefinitely deferred federal funding just before construction was about to begin. That same month, Caltrain removed the contractor responsible for implementing PTC for failure to perform on-budget and on-schedule. In May 2017, the Federal Transit Administration's (FTA) announced its intention to sign the grant and reversed Secretary Chao's deferment. Construction formally began two months later.
When completed, CalMod will electrify 51 miles (82 km) of tracks between 4th and King station and Tamien Station and install a PTC management system along the tracks. PTC is designed to fulfill federal safety mandates for passenger rail and is part of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) waiver to use EMUs on tracks shared with freight traffic. Funding for the project comes from various federal, state, and local sources, including from the CHSRA. Caltrain plans to complete the project by 2021, after which it plans to use double-decker EMU Stadler Rail trainsets on the electrified route. Some of the diesel locomotives will be retained for service south of Tamien.