Caltrain to Continue Weekend Service for Broadway and Atherton

Caltrain will retain weekend service at the Broadway station in Burlingame and the Atherton station. The decision was reached earlier this week during a meeting of Caltrain, Burlingame and Atherton officials.

Caltrain’s board voted to suspend all service to Paul Avenue in San Francisco, Broadway in Burlingame and Atherton. They also voted to substantially reduce service to College Park in San Jose.

Please see below for details of the Wednesday meeting.

Following a meeting Wednesday presided over by Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board Chairman Mike Nevin and in cooperation with officials from Burlingame and Atherton, Caltrain today announced the following:

• The survival of Caltrain: The service changes scheduled to go into effect on August 1, including an increase to a 96-train schedule, are necessary to ensure the future survival of Caltrain.
• Service suspensions: The 96-train schedule is a model that relies heavily on increased deployment of express trains and associated service reductions and service suspensions at some stations. The suspension of service at Broadway in Burlingame and at Atherton is not intended to be a permanent closure and was proposed only as a means to resolve a budget crisis that, unresolved, could mean the demise of Caltrain.
• Weekend service: The 96-train schedule to take effect on August 1, originally scheduled to suspend all service to Paul Avenue in San Francisco, Broadway and Atherton, now will include weekend service at Broadway and Atherton stations. The full details of those additions to the schedule have not yet been developed by staff, but the weekend service to Broadway and Atherton will be equivalent to service at other weekend stations.
• Shuttle service: Through the cooperative efforts of Caltrain, SamTrans and the San Mateo County Transportation Authority, a shuttle bus service will be provided to both stations that will serve as an interim replacement to weekday Caltrain service and transport customers at each station to adjacent stations where service is in full vigor. The shuttle program will be provided for a guaranteed period of up to 17 months, through December 31, 2006, and will be designed with the full participation of the cities, interested parties and the customers at each station with the goal of providing robust service at those stations. The two cities will assist in promoting the shuttle programs to their residents.
• Hold-out status: Among the reasons Broadway and Atherton are scheduled for suspension of service is their hold-out status – a platform configuration that allows only one train into the station at a time. Officials from both cities have been pressing for completion of projects that would eliminate the hold-out status. There was recognition that those hold-out projects could be incorporated into long-term projects.
• In the case of Burlingame, this would mean incorporating station improvements into plans to build a grade separation at the Broadway crossing and to build a new, improved interchange at Broadway and Highway 101, both projects in which the San Mateo County Transportation Authority would be a major funding partner and Caltrain would have a significant role in design and construction. It was agreed to swiftly pursue support for these projects from the City/County Association of Governments and to begin an aggressive effort to obtain state and local funding for these projects at the earliest date possible. The parties agreed to seek an expedited, four-year time frame for obtaining the funding.
• In the case of Atherton, agreement could not be reached on the issue of platform improvements to eliminate hold-out status. Discussions with Atherton officials are continuing.

The Joint Powers Board members present were Caltrain Chairman Mike Nevin, Redwood City Councilman Jim Hartnett and transit expert Arthur Lloyd.

5/23/05