How Caltrain's New ELECTRIC TRAINS Will Revolutionise the San Francisco Bay Area!

[@AtomicBuffalo]

81F is barely warm for downtown San Jose in September :)

[@J3unG]

The one thing that will make this transport popular is if Caltrain keeps the prices low. Prices are killing BART and the bloody bridge tolls are horrible. I look forward to riding this train myself in the coming days to see for myself the improvements to the line. It looks great so far.

[@yesid17]

finally finished watching the video, it's so nice to see the new trains getting so much love. I've been riding Caltrain for over 10 years now so I'm really excited for this too, though i really wish speed and service frequencies could be improved more, sure end to end from SJ to SF downtowns it's probably pretty competitive with driving, but honestly that's such a low bar, it's not really competitive with driving when you consider how many people aren't going downtown as their final destination, or when you're starting from halfway up the peninsula, it's usually faster to drive often due at least in part to having to wait upwards of 15 minutes for a train--as a tangent, lately Caltrain has been a lot more on-time, I remember a few years ago when I started commuting via Caltrain, service was delayed more often than not.. it was very unreliable. In any case, I live and work between SF and SJ and for the million or so of us along the peninsula, a tiny mid-pen. downtown is almost never the end destination; we have a major last mile problem which is only exacerbated by slow average speeds and low frequencies and makes driving almost always the better option--and I say that as someone without a car. I was very wrong thinking I could live around here like I lived in the NYC area, a car is a very real necessity out here and even though I once said I would rather leave the area than get a car... even with this upgrade to Caltrain... I'm considering getting a car more than ever these days

[@calregstudios3047]

One thing about taking the train is that it saves time from parking! Especially for those who have trouble parking in SF. Parking in SF can be expensive too. I agree having a car is a necessity but it does not hurt to use both for different trip purposes. I usually park at Bart for going to mission or other parts of SF.

[@hotrail8295]

At least you can relax, nap, catch up on your cell phone/emails/texts, or just gaze out the window when you are riding Caltrain up the Peninsula. The relaxed and more dignified pace is worth it.

[@albertcarello619]

@yesid17: You especially need a car to do grocery shopping always. Also other shopping amenities as well!

[@yesid17]

@@albertcarello619 not really... I live a block from a Safeway and a Trader Joes, I got one of them grandma carts that a lot of old people have to help them carry things and that works pretty well when my backpack and a couple big reusable bags won't suffice. Some things I order online bc getting it delivered is more convenient, but on the rare occasion that I need to move even more stuff, renting a car/truck/UHaul is a decent option. If it wasn't for my commute taking 1-2 hours longer than it needs to every day, buying a car would be rather pointless for me.

[@nickbono8]

I worked on the first stage of this electrification project back in 2017. We did the geotechnical drilling through the whole corridor. That job helped me pay off my student debt! 😂 It’s nice to see that this project is finally done.

[@SettledBatches]

So you've been slopping at the public trough for how long?

[@nickbono8]

@@SettledBatches Working my ass off for weeks on end without going home staying in motels, working overtime, getting filthy muddy everyday, so I can pay off my student loans is morally reprehensible? Get fucked troll…

[@pinga858]

Look at the ridership already! I'm so excited to finally see us all getting back into rail transit and seeing the huge benefits it has, and as you guys can see in the comments of these videos, the rest of the world is rooting us on!

[@SettledBatches]

The ridership stinks, and fools like you think I should pay for your idiocy.

[@Bryan-lg3fn]

The rest of the world is laughing at us because we are still in the stone age compared to them when it comes to public transportation . But its better late than never right ...

[@SettledBatches]

@@Bryan-lg3fn You have an active fantasy life.

[@UndreamingCorruption]

​@@Bryan-lg3fn sadly true, but not anymore in some parts

[@AKHHuffman]

Very exciting for The Bay! Great video, my guy!

[@freerangeasian]

Thanks mate!

[@FlyingOverTr0ut]

This is great to see. I hope to ride the trains in San Francisco someday. I've lived in LA for five years but have never visited.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Amtrak tickets in the off season are very reasonable plus the coastline views are spectacular

[@lance31415]

When I moved to Palo Alto in 1984 there was talk of electrifying CalTrain. Forty years later and it's reality with all of the benefits we saw back then. But I shouldn't complain - at least it happened in my lifetime.

[@Jonathan-un7uq]

I just rode cal train for the first time. The trains were! Didn't realize that the electric trains were new

[@gb9727]

i hope this is a sign of things to come

[@harleyb.birdwhisperer]

One of those is when the HSR overlays another set of rails along the route. Enjoy.

[@barryrobbins7694]

I knew you were from New Zealand by the way you pronounced “deck”.😀

[@freerangeasian]

Hahaha

[@bircruz555]

I did detect English "accent". I did not know where to place him. Good to know.

[@alexcarter8807]

@@bircruz555 Hong Kong accent can sound like that too. That'd be my guess.

[@bircruz555]

@@alexcarter8807 Possible. Thanks.

[@PlasticBubbleCosplay]

This electrification upgrade is proof that Multiple Units are quicker, especially since more of the wheels are powered. Commuter & Regional Rail systems should take note and upgrade as well.

[@albertcarello619]

@PlasticBubblrCosplay: I think Caltran is following suit Like SEPTA REGIONAL ELECTRIC RAIL of Philadelphia PA. Diesel passenger services were discontinued back sometime in the early 1980s. The only thing diesel out there are freight trains and buses. Also there's electric buses out in Philadelphia.

[@alexcarter8807]

You can go to SF from SJ by bus, but it's two different systems. You have to take the VTA #22/#522 to Palo Alto, then get onto the bus service for the peninsula.

[@BrianWeber-gt4ho]

The train cars you showed were fro. Mid to late 1990s

[@LMB222]

Mentally from the 1940's. Very few suburban lines are diesel powered.

[@TohaBgood2]

The vast majority of suburban lines are diesel around the world, dude. In some countries a majority of suburban lines are not diesel, but this varies by country. Even in Europe, a majority of regional rail is still diesel.

[@freerangeasian]

I stand corrected! I guess a detail I missed, this SJ SF service (when it was formerly run by Southern Pacific) has been using diesel trains since the 50s. Caltrain itself has been operating since 1985.

[@danielcarroll3358]

@@freerangeasian Old fart here. I remember riding them under steam.

[@LucasDimoveo]

I just took Caltrain from SF to SJ and it took 2.5 hours!!! I’m so glad to hear about the upgrade

[@alexcarter8807]

The diesel train *cars* are/were Kinki Sharyo made in Japan, I think newer than 1950s. But the new electric trains are really nice. Much quieter, faster, and more frequent.

[@FGH9G]

Welcome to the 21st century CalTrain! All kidding aside, it is fantastic that they went fully electric. Not those battery powered nonsense, but actual legit electrical infrastructure like their overhead catenary wire.

[@SkyStepDrones68]

Great video! I am looking forward to making a drone tour of the new electric trains 🙂Keep up the great content!

[@freerangeasian]

Thank you 😄

[@gb9727]

More ComRails need these (Especially MBTA)

[@skytlezL]

Nice

[@derekwtang]

Can’t wait to ride the electric trains when I go back home in December

[@TheFarmanimalfriend]

Where are the bathrooms?

[@ninjaundermyskin]

I'm going to miss the old old trains that looked like aluminium trash cans. The upstairs single seat was the best public transportation seat.

[@hotrail8295]

Totally agree with the upper seats. BEST ever.. I won't miss the bumpy ride, but the solitude was great.

[@albertcarello619]

@@ninjaundermyskin The old Diesel Powered passenger trains are like a duplicate of Chicago's METRA RAILROAD TRAINS. I also sure wonder if these diesel trainsets might get sold to Chicago's METRA RAILROADs?

[@davidjackson7281]

When CAHSR starts running soon it will make the trip non-stop in less than 40 minutes.

[@Urbanhandyman]

Soon? The earliest CAHSR will run through the peninsula is the 2040s.

[@davidjackson7281]

@@Urbanhandyman Agree. 2044 would be "somewhat soon". lol

[@californiamade5608]

@@Urbanhandymannot even dude the 2030s

[@Urbanhandyman]

@@californiamade5608 The Central Valley "Rump Rail" portion of the California High Speed Rail line (Merced to Bakersfield) is expected to open in the 2030s. The Peninsula San Jose to San Francisco section that Davidjackson7281 is referring to won't be online until the 2040s at the earliest unfortunately.

[@beatrueegg2722]

in the event of a power cut, you can't blame the train for the delay, it's someone else's fault and in the early days when operations were still mixed, the EMUs often had to run much slower than they could have because of the old trains almost nobody here (Switzerland) knows what a diesel train is, 99.99% are electric here, diesel is still used for freight transport and individual company tracks and there are more and more battery-powered locomotives or hybrids

[@LMB222]

6:39 those are control racks and transformers.

[@freerangeasian]

Good to know, thank you

[@albertcarello619]

These diesel trains would also work on Chicago's METRA RAILROADs being virtually the same and uf METRA needed additional trains these trainsets could be the answer.

[@gregg2076]

59 minutes may be “under an hour” on paper or might make an attractive headline, but let’s be honest, it’s really an hour. Just like $1.99 is not less than 2 bucks, it is two bucks, it’s just a marketing mind game. And most of the time the ride from SJ to SF takes more than an hour as they don’t arrive in SF on time. I’m happy the ride is an hour long but wish it was closer to 50 minutes. That, to me, would have been “under an hour“.

[@daved4572]

Love your opening car park scene. Very American 😂

[@cjhan9816]

Extremely long time arrival.

[@bernadmanny]

Is that an Aussie or Kiwi inflection I hear?

[@illiiilli24601]

Watch him mispronounce the word deck, and you'll know

[@freerangeasian]

Yup - mostly Aussie these days but I grew up in NZ so I guess it still comes out sometimes 😂

[@bernadmanny]

@@freerangeasian Ahh, Newstralian. Good to know my brain wasn't deceiving me.

[@albertcarello619]

Hopefully electrification will be extended much further.

[@GH-oi2jf]

You mentioned waiting for a BART train, but not waiting for CalTrain.

[@canikissyouyes]

look at the trains around the world...USB, WiFi that works, and chair that reclines.

[@williamlloyd3769]

Took MetroLink as a commuter for years in and around LA. Very reliable except for the car hit crossing guard, occasional suicide, walker with iPods on rail and of course drunks turning on to the right of way. Only way to commute and arrive stress free

[@vocado6]

never rode the bart or calitrain but ive always wanted to, rather than drive

[@hop208]

$9 seems cheap considering the price of a New Jersey transit train from Hamilton to NYC to nearly double that; and the trains are old. Even the new double decker trains are showing their age with most of the windows being completely fogged over with no clear view outside.

[@yesid17]

"steamy 27 degrees" friend, what, lol you must be new here, that's an average/cool summer day in the south bay.. historically September is the hottest month in San Jose, tomorrow (September 27th) it's supposed to be over 35C (95F) and the record high was two Septembers ago--it was 43C (109F) on September 6th 2022. I feel very lucky to live where I do, I haven't watched the video so maybe you'll mention my town Millbrae, since it's got the only combined BART/Caltrain station, but I'm a lot closer to SF, with Karl the fog and their natural air conditioning lol it's 12C this morning in Millbrae and the high for today is only supposed to be ~19C. Tomorrow it's gonna be hot here too, but hot here means above 25C, unlike SJ where hot means 35C or more. Sorry to rant, I promise I'll get back to the video and leave a comment that's actually related to the content of the video lol i just couldn't help myself, I'm not from the Bay Area originally either and the weather and microclimates (and Karl, the fog!) never cease to amaze me lol

[@Yvonne-Bella]

Let's make it clear: when you live ANYWHERE in California, 81°F feels like a breeze. Especially by the water

[@freerangeasian]

Haha I grew up in a cold climate so I think anything above 25C is hot!

[@yesid17]

​@@Yvonne-Bella nah fam 81 in SF is downright hot, even on a warm day like is predicted for tomorrow, it'll be 95+ in SJ but barely 80 in SF and anywhere on the coast north of Santa Cruz anything over 70 would abnormally (i.e. above average) hot except for maybe in Aug/Sept. The average high in Pacifica in September (the hottest month on average) is 72 and 70 is the average high in SF in September and here in Millbrae where I live, the average high in September is 74. I really don't like hot weather.. 81 is pretty warm for me anyway lol

[@alexbigkid]

It looks like the regional double decker trains in Germany. Those trains are probably built by Siemens. Hopefully other cities get those also. And may be ICE high speed trains to travel fast between the cities … come on California you can do that! Morocco, Indonesia and Mexico have got them already!

[@michaelurben7676]

This Train is made by Stadler ->🇨🇭

[@alexbigkid]

Good to know! Thank you!

[@celebrityrog]

And as I suspected, Caltrain totally changed the schedule so that the rapid 1 hour time trains are 3 in the extremely early morning to San Jose/SF and 3 in the early afternoon back to SF/SJ. So there are now LESS "bullet trains" than before, there is now longer wait times between trains, a minimum of 30 minutes, not 20 like before. Caltrain basically thinks we are fucking idiots and cant see that the electrification has actually decreased frequency and increased travel duration to Caltrains benefit at the expense of convenience for customers. Something I KNEW they would do. They'd talk a big fucking game about travel time being cut, more trains, etc, but they made it so inconvenient that its easier to take BART to Milpitas and jump on a VTA bus to downtown. As for getting back to SF, BART stops running direct trains and Caltrain stops at every stop to SF. You're better off spending the night in San Jose and getting a 5AM bullet train back to SF the next morning.

[@RolandoCheddar]

I hope you didn’t get charged, the trains were supposed to be free for the opening weekend 😭

[@chuggie2]

the future happens in california

[@harleyb.birdwhisperer]

The minor time reduction is nice, but hardly ‘revolutionary’. The clean new trains are nice, also. Wish that the ‘wise people’ of San Mateo County had allowed BART to come south several decades ago, eliminating the need for this regional patch.

[@lilaznkid4ever]

Where is your accent from? ❤❤❤

[@libertarianasian8935]

Revolutionized, give me a break! Being to Japan n China ?

[@1970sugan]

Why can’t they convert this into a Bart line?

[@1970sugan]

Total waste of money and resource

[@1970sugan]

If the entire BayArea is connected by Bart, it would be better for the overall commuter nightmare

[@harleyb.birdwhisperer]

In the early days of BART, the path south on the peninsula was blocked by San Mateo County. The result is the patchwork of rail gauges and services we have now. Brilliant.

[@Aerrow62]

It still takes about the same time. The issue is last mile reach. It's getting from home to caltrain that takes equal amount of time.

[@TransConBrilliance]

I am not nearly so confident. If you ride caltrain on a regular basis you'll understand what a dumpster fire it is. All you need is one train to have an issue for the entire line, both directions to be halted and it happens A LOT!! they don't have enough tracks for the trains to bypass problems. 2nd, unless you ride frequently and buy monthly passes you'll be horrified to realize depending on your commute that it's actually cheaper to drive. 3rd, frequency and connection is a problem. It's one thing to follow the caltrain schedule but if you're far from a station you will have to use one of the other billion transit systems like vta which outside of rush hour will run once every 20-30 minutes. That feeling when you see your light rail pull away. And caltrain can't possibly sync up with so many different agencies. In my 10 years working in Sunnyvale having to work long hours it became pointless to use caltrain.

[@charles_kerman-357]

Um, the train was free that day

[@michaelsmiley15]

No I don't think it will have a significant impact other increased efficiency The whole point of converting caltrain to electric has to do with high speed rail California high speed rail hardware has not been constructed so we don't know if these new line are compatible It's going to be years before the high speed rail is ready so we don't know

[@4g63t8]

Prefer the diesel

[@TheBigExclusive]

Why does the Bay Area run 2 different Train companies (Bart and Caltrain)? Why dont they have A Unified train service? Why not have Bart run direct from San Francisco to San Jose and get rid of Caltrain? Simplify the whole thing.

[@suyogv8235]

Politics and lore. Also the gauges are very different, caltrain can’t fit on bart tracks and bart can’t fit on caltrain tracks.

[@roger5059]

​@@suyogv8235One is a metro, the other one is a commuter service. Having two very different types of services be operated by different agencies is common around the world. How would you even run BART on Caltrain infrastructure? The different gauges are only one part of the issue. The electrification is different. The maximum speeds they are designed for are different. The platform heights are different. The signaling system is different. The possible service patterns are completely different.

[@TohaBgood2]

@@roger5059 Bart is not a metro. It covers an area the size of a European country, including three major cities in two different metro areas. the top speeds are actually the same 80 mph (~130 km/h) Bart is a regional rail system - an S-bahn. And Bart already runs Caltrain-like trains on the Yellow line Antioch extension (Stadler GTW trains). It will run more of these Caltrain-like lines in the future, including the ValleyLink extension to Mountain House/Tracy (with Stadler FLIRT trains) and potentially wBART.

[@lalakerspro]

same reason the netherlands has different companies

[@harleyb.birdwhisperer]

In the early days of BART, San Mateo County blocked the route south on the peninsula. There was also the issue of heavy rail night service to SF for freight.

[@theinternational397]

When you’ve seen it all! A Chinese talking like an Englishman.

[@stickynorth]

All public transit should be zero emission by law since the riders on it ironically are subject to the worst pollution since stop and go traffic creates more overall PM 2.5 amongst other things anything else and the emissions tend to be sucked back into the transit vehicles through open windows or vents... And especially trains which are already the most eco-friendly and efficient option to move people with so making them electric either via overhead wires or battery electric multiple units with rapid charging at station stops and layovers will make the progress that much easier, particularly since almost every rail manufacturer now has an electric or hydrogen or even in Stadler's case a hydrogen-electric version of commuter rail rolling stock for the global market.

[@AtomicBuffalo]

Public transit is more efficient and lower-emission than internal combustion automobiles. Public infrastructure is already underfunded; your mandate would hinder expansion and adoption of public transit and make the overall problem worse. We can advocate for reduced emissions without shooting ourselves in the foot.

[@Cyrus992]

Personal rapid transit can help too. One is planned in San Jose

[@bahnspotterEU]

PRT is a gadgety system that has only really been implemented in one place and even there it's quite obvious what a waste of money it was. Regular fixed-route transit is better in most ways. Potential for less wait time, cheaper to build and easier to understand.

[@Cyrus992]

@@bahnspotterEU where was a waste of time?

[@bahnspotterEU]

@@Cyrus992 Morgantown, WV, the only place it really exists afaik. Stations are hilariously overbuilt to cater to multiple separately arriving, leaving and passing vehicles and the wait times for your personal non-stop vehicle mean that getting somewhere is hardly faster than a regular all-stop service would be.

[@Cyrus992]

@@bahnspotterEU Newer systems planned are more advanced than Morgantown. Sure PRT cannot replace all cars and trains. However, they can significantly help especially when it’s on demand and cost far less to build.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

Personal rapid transit is a “car”, it’s this machine that drives on roads

[@XinaCCPFreeTibet]

52 miles in less than 1 hour will revolutionize? Such low standards ?

[@lalakerspro]

thats pretty good for a commuter train

[@richarda3659]

Hey, thanks for coming all the way here from somewhere far, far away, and spreading misinformation. The long delay on opening day due to a power outage was due to VANDALISM of the overhead power lines by some sort of sick person, NOT by any incompetency on Caltrain's part. But you wouldn't know that, and couldn't bother to update your video. So instead, you just let it stick, allowing the false information to live. I want to stand a little bit corrected - see comment below.

[@freerangeasian]

@richarda3659 Hey, thanks for watching! You're right - that incident wasn't necessarily Caltrain's fault, but so far there has been a delay everyday on the Caltrain. In the end, passengers don't care about whether a delay is Caltrain's fault or not - they simply want to get to their destination on time. If Caltrain's new schedule or infrastructure doesn't allow them to recover quickly from most delays, ridership is going to start declining. Like I mentioned, it remains to be seen whether these are just growing pains. I'm optimistic for what Caltrain has in store and I hope they figure out a smooth process to quickly recover from any delays - whether its from external factors or otherwise. *edit - also I do not get any ad revenue from these.

[@MakeItWithCalvin]

@@freerangeasian ^^^ This... I documented my experience with it on my channel and honestly, it was depressing that on day 1 of the new trains, they had no way to really recover in a timely manner, and the delays just kept stacking up well into the night commute. Then the next morning there was the 805 that got canceled, so that meant the 405 had to be canceled, it wasn't a good look. Too much of the schedule relies on things running perfectly, and that's not going to happen. Yes, I am a bit cross at CalTrain management for selling us an unrealistic dream, it's going to bite them in the end if they don't come out and deal with it ASAP.

[@richarda3659]

@@freerangeasian Thank you for correcting some of my errors.

[@SettledBatches]

Taking you from where you are not to where you don't want to be in one hour! On the taxpayer dime.

[@TohaBgood2]

Huh?

[@SettledBatches]

@@TohaBgood2 Can't you read?

[@TohaBgood2]

@@SettledBatches You can't write, at least not in English.

[@SettledBatches]

@@TohaBgood2 What language do lefty twits need to understand? The train picks you up from where you are not and leaves you where you don't want to be at the cost of others; pay your own costs. Is that simple enough for lefty ignoramuses to understand, lefty ignoramus?

[@juanmartin1948]

Sir Newsom should buy high quality trains from China not this old technology ones.