California State Rail Plan 2007-08 to 2017-18

2007-08 – 2017-18 California State Rail Planthe projected demand for Caltrain service will exceed vehicle capacity in fiveyears. The capital improvement plan, incorporated into Caltrain’s Project 2025,will address the infrastructure requirements necessary to accommodate demand,by allowing flexibility and future expansion in service.The goal of the capital program is to maintain the infrastructure and to provide thecapacity that will allow operating flexibility and future increases in capacity andtrain frequency. Capital improvements support capacity expansion in severalways: by improving throughput to support future service levels, reliability tomaintain on-time performance, safety, or by adding passenger amenities.The major capital improvement program categories are:• State of Good Repair• Systems• Facilities• ExpansionThe State of Good Repair program consists of replacement and rehabilitationactivities for equipment and infrastructure that have reached the end of their‘useful’ life or requires rehabilitation. It includes the replacement of vehicles atthe end of their lifecycle, but not the addition of new rolling stock that is acquiredto increase fleet size. One of the primary goals of the capital improvementprogram is to keep the railroad in a constant state of good repair, and appropriatelybalance the investments in replacement and rehabilitation activities withenhancement-type improvements. The State of Good Repair program will be acontinuous and integral part of all future capital activities as it is the primarymeans through which large capital projects can be enabled. The priorities forreplacement and rehabilitation may shift every 5 to 10 years depending on thecondition or lifecycle of the equipment and infrastructure and the timetable forensuing capital investments.Systems include rolling stock, signal, and communications improvements, as wellas electrification. The vehicle technology and size of the fleet have a majorimpact on throughput, since they determine how many passengers can be carriedat any given moment. The vehicle selection for electrification is critical becausethe design or need for major capital improvements depends on this decision. It isalso critical in terms of being able to add cars to the fleet in response to near-termmarket demand. The signal system also heavily influences throughput because itcontrols the ‘flow’ of train traffic through the system. Communicationsimprovements will be required to manage data and voice communications for allvital and non-vital systems from signals and power provision to ticket vendingmachines and passenger information systems at stations.156