California State Rail Plan 2005-06 to 2015-16

Chapter VIII – The Capitol Corridor
79 percent. The improved OTP is primarily the result of management and
organizational changes at the UP. In December 2003, Amtrak, CCJPA and UP
revised the incentive payments for OTP of Capitol Corridor trains. They are now
calculated separately from UP’s incentive payments for other Amtrak trains to
give the UP more incentive to increase OTP on this route. OTP over 92 percent
receives increased incentive payments.
Capital projects on the Route have had a large impact in improving OTP.
In February 2004 the Yolo Causeway double-track project was completed which
was the last remaining single track segment between Oakland and Sacramento.
This project increased reliability and reduced travel times by ten minutes.
ENHANCE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
The CCJPA’s June 2005 Vision Plan contains a number of goals for improving
customer satisfaction, including in the near-term: expand passenger on board
surveys and comment cards; implement new technologies to improve customer
experience such as implement wireless internet access service and outdoor ticket
vending machines at all unstaffed stations; improve food quality and variety; and
provide printed multi-lingual information. In the longer term, the CCJPA plans to
implement a business/custom class service with one upgraded car per train with
additional amenities.
INTERMODAL CONNECTIVITY
Intermodal connectivity is one of the CCJPA’s Core Service Objectives in their
2005 Vision Plan. The Route has stations that connect to BART, Caltrain, ACE,
VTA, and Sacramento Regional Transit Light Rail (projected for fall 2006).
The CCJPA plans to expand their Transit Transfer Program where free transfers to
local transit are offered to passengers, to additional transit providers. The CCJPA
is also looking for opportunities to coordinate with local transit providers to offer
connecting bus service to the Capitol Corridor.
TRAVEL TIMES
Current Oakland to Sacramento travel times average 1 hour-50 minutes (for trains
starting or ending in Oakland), Oakland to San Jose averages 1 hour-13 minutes,
and Sacramento to Auburn averages one hour and four minutes. The CCJPA’s
goal is to reduce average travel time by 12 percent. This goal assumes that the
unconstrained capital program described in Chapter II is fully implemented.
A number of planned capital projects will provide running time reductions.
The planned new trackage and signal improvement projects currently under
construction between Oakland and San Jose will improve running-times by
facilitating both passenger and freight train movements and by providing more
opportunities for trains to pass each other. Also a third main track near the
Oakland station will reduce passenger and freight conflicts and improve running
times. Additionally, while construction is occurring between Oakland and
93