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An Enduring Photoshop Job
Way back in October of the year 2000, I was dismayed to find no good renderings of what an electrified Caltrain might look like. In those days, before copyright became a huge deal, I pointed my...
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The Great Platform Construction Extravaganza
Redwood City in August 2000One of the arguments against level boarding is that it would involve a massive reconstruction of just about every single station platform along the entire peninsula rail...
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The Path to Level Boarding
The California High-Speed Rail Authority recently abandoned its plan to procure trains by piggybacking on an Amtrak order of new trains for the Northeast Corridor. This news isn't all that surprising:...
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Compatibility, Done Backwards
Steps from an 8-inch platforminto a Bombardier bilevel carwith a 25-inch floor. The firststep is 10", the second 7"Caltrain justifies its desire to procure a new EMU fleet with 25" floor height...
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The Top Ten Problems Facing Caltrain
Caltrain is searching for a new General Manager. This person will need a briefing on the key issues now facing Caltrain. Here is a list of the top ten problems that are clouding the "blended" vision...
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Level Boarding Plan B
Plan B: four doors per car.Based on a photo by Yevgeny GromovWhat if the recent talk of platform compatibility was just a bunch of lip service, and the high-speed rail authority remained uncompromising...
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The Train that Shouldn't Exist
The debate over level-boarding is one that needs to happen now, before trains are purchased. Wherever it leads, this debate must be rooted in facts.Over the years, Caltrain staff and consultants have...
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Metrolink Scorns Electrification
Just like the peninsula corridor, the other end of California's planned high-speed rail network, in the Los Angeles basin, could also benefit from European-style "blended" service where electrified...
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The Caltrain board of directors recently certified the Final Environmental Impact Report for the electrification project, the last environmental clearance necessary to move ahead with construction. As...
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News Roundup, March 2015
Regulations for 25 kV electrification. After two years in the making, CPUC proceeding R1303009 appears to have produced the new rule book for stringing up high-voltage rail electrification in...
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Find Out Your Pole Placement
Plan showing where electrification poleswill be placed in the vicinity of thehistoric El Palo Alto redwood(see RFP Volume 3 page 1193)Caltrain has spent over $15 million on its electrification project...
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The Blue Doors Will Open
Blue doors open at old 8" platforms (shown here)Yellow doors open at HSR heightThere are noises that Caltrain's new EMU fleet might sport a double set of doors, to enable boarding at two different...
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CBOSS Headed for Trouble?
The button we may soon haveto press. Photograph bySander van der VelCaltrain's new Positive Train Control (PTC) system, known as CBOSS, appears to be running into serious technical difficulties just as...
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Going the Extra Inch
Assisted level boarding onAmtrak's Northeast CorridorTo enable wheelchair users to board a train without assistance, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires level boarding platforms to have...
View ArticleEMU Draft RFP
Caltrain recently published their Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) Request for Proposals (RFP) in draft form, to obtain feedback from potential proposers prior to the formal issue of this document in...
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News Roundup, July 2015
Cost of Dual Height Boarding: with its industry review of the EMU draft RFP, Caltrain sought feedback from vehicle manufacturers regarding the cost and feasibility of delivering vehicles with dual...
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Peninsula HSR, Take Two
Environmental clearance of high-speed rail in the peninsula rail corridor was initiated right after the Proposition 1A bond passed in 2008. The development of engineering and environmental...
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Level Boarding: It's Official
A montage of what a Caltrain EMU mightlook like, before platforms are raised.Based on a photo by Yevgeny GromovCaltrain just released the final Request For Proposals for their new electric train fleet....
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The U-Shaped Grade Separation
While some cities and towns on the peninsula are still holding out for trenches or tunnels to bury the railroad tracks out of sight, the astronomical cost and difficulty of constructing such structures...
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Optimizing the Midline Overtake
The most important piece of infrastructure required for "blending" HSR with Caltrain on the peninsula rail corridor is an overtake facility, basically a several-mile long stretch of up to four tracks...
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