I caught a northbound Express no. 711 at Mountain View to SF last Wednesday evening. Then this same train returned now as local 132. Last week there was only 2 EMUs. As of yesterday (Sunday) there were 3. So the chance of riding these trains will get easier as we approach the full electric switch over.

@@davidbilleci5891 👍

When I was riding these trains they consistently arrived a few minutes earlier than a standard diesel trains and then waited until the scheduled station departure time. I would expect the new schedule will eliminate this dwell time.

Where in Europe are you ? I was pleasantly surprised by the trains and their well run testing and introduction. Usually when an American transportation project involving trains, subway or light rail is executed there are many delays and problems that require debugging and retrofitting. This is mainly due to the non standard nature of both the infrastructure and the vehicles required by the Federal Railway Authority’s crashworthy regulations making the vehicles much heavier than a European version. The NEC Acela is a good example of this. The second version of these trains are still not in service. In the case of the Caltrain Electrification project, the choice of the two primary contractors-Balfour Beatty for the electrification and Stadler was a wise choice. These contractors both knew what they were doing. While the project took a lot of time the results are so far impressive. Hopefully this service will become better patronized due to its faster schedule and a general improvement in San Francisco’s downtown employment.

@@goodmandesign1234 I live in Switzerland since birth, so of course I know the Stadler trains. the Swiss Federal Railways SBB have had the KISS in service since 2016 and before that there was already the FLIRT in use, e.g. in Dallas. in Switzerland, almost all lines have been electrified for decades and for almost 40 years, almost only EMUs have been put into service. the existing electric locomotives are now used for freight transport and some are still in service with the standardised IV coaches, which were built until the 1980s and are also known throughout europe as eurofima coaches in a similar design. In addition, there are still locomotives from the last series (RE460) that run with the first generation double-decker trains (IC2000). all current orders are EMUs, in the Zurich region there are many 4-car double-decker trains that will be replaced by 6-car trains in the next few years. the manufacturers can now submit offers. most of these trains also run in double traction.

Caltrain actually got a FRA waver that allowed them to purchase and import these trains largely unmodified from the UIC designs. Since that waver, FRA has finally relented on their 1920s safety regs and allowed UIC designs with minor modifications on the US rail network - so we will start seeing a lot more of these and other European train designs.

these trains accelerate WAY faster than the diesels and are used in several countries across europe

If a train of almost 16 feet fits under the wires, the trucks will fit as well :) The only real issue are dump trucks with their bed raised, or a boom truck with the boom raised, etc. Dumb, but those things happen. In Europe as well. Fixing the catenary usually takes half a day around here.

25 KV, I would not dare. By the way, it is time to suppress the level crossings as in Europe, it is a matter of security.

I remember riding the diesel Caltrains and how they took 5 whole business days to reach top speed, and by that time they already had to start slowing down for the next station 😂

Entshuldigen Sie Mein Deutsch aber diese „Kiss“ Electrozüge Sind total fantastisch !

@@goodmandesign1234 Sehr gut - Dein Deutsch! Why doesn't Caltrain just lease/buy 5 Bombardier ALP-45DP dual-mode locomotives from EXO/AMT for the way down to Gilroy? They only need them for diesel operation - there in Canada - no catenary any more . And they will soon be getting Siemens Chargers...

Soweit ich weiß, wird Caltrain neue Dual-Mode-Lokomotiven kaufen. Diese werden mit Batteriestrom betrieben, bis sie in Richtung Norden an der Tamien Station ihre Stromabnehmer anheben.

@@goodmandesign1234 Here a small BEMU Stadler Flirt (FLIRT Akku) kzbin.info/www/bejne/jam7q6aum6t7gsk BEMU Stadler Flirt and EMU Stadler Kiss in northern Germany kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4KkhnmAYtxsosk

Also, 2019 - SMART opens Larkspur ferry extension 2024 - VTA breaks ground on East San Jose Orange line light rail extension

@@TohaBgood2 Could also include all the Muni Metro improvements on the J, K & M but those are mostly minor improvements to existing rail and I don‘t believe there are plans to shut down the rail while they do construction unlike the L.

Im ur 600th subscriber

@@Andreshms3 Go ahead--make my day !👍

Padre Pio

The Metro directions are confusing-both the T and the original J-K-L-M-N line run northeast to get to downtown. So Eastbound/Westbound is not compelling-maybe to and from City Center

I know that the new section of track has already bin geometry tested with Breda trains. This happened during the week and I was at work and missed it. I’m hoping for a period of “simulated” service prior to the start of regular service to get going soon. I will try to catch this !

I read Caltrain bought 23 seven car trainsets, so 161 total cars. They did a recent test running eight trainsets at once. I'm unsure what the average number of trains they'll be running at the same time, but it looks like they have enough to meet the need, with extra capacity when needed and/or when some cars are being serviced.

@@roachtoastiesThink the Caltrain EMUs will be more better in the future.

When I get back to the Bay Area.

Where are you driving your Flinker Leichter Intercity- und Regional-Triebzug Trains?

@@goodmandesign1234 Germany, more precisely in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Ausgezeichnet. Von ihren eisenbahn Streber !

Probably a good idea to use the Breda cars for the initial testing. They are heavier than the Siemens trains and give a tougher test!

These so called Boat Trams (originally called “Luxury Toast Racks Trams”) are originally from Blackpool England. Built in the 1930’s. The Market Street Railway now has three of these !

@@goodmandesign1234 hard to imagine these in Blackpool in 1930’s. I’ll have to see if I can find old photos of them on the streets of Blackpool!

I’m hoping that someone at SFMTA has the foresight to paint those lanes red. It’s a shame there is not a single transit only lane the entire stretch. Every other line will have a transit only lane for a portion of the solo route after their renovations are complete

Here is a question I posed recently: Paula Ford: when I was at the Caltrain EMU event at Diridon last summer I was puzzled why the accessibility configuration for these new KISS units was not really optimal. The current double doors are not flush with the platforms and an additional “ramp” needs to be manually deployed to load or unload wheel chair passengers. There are addition doors at a higher level (currently blocked by seats) on these trains that might be compatible with to be deployed high level platforms once California High Speed Rail trains are configured. Then we might have a Municipal Metro type scenario where some stations will use the low level manual access and some stations which will have high level boarding platforms using the other doors. Perhaps a representative from either Caltrain or Stadler can comment.

@@goodmandesign1234 When CAHSR is built, the platforms and trains will be upgraded.