Caltrain To Thank 22nd Street patrons With Free Coffee & Muffins
On Monday morning, March 12, Caltrain staff will be up with the
roosters with something to crow about — reaching the halfway
point in a year-long construction project, which includes a major
upgrade at the 22nd Street station in San Francisco.
As part of the celebration, staff will be at the busy Baby
Bullet station from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. greeting commuters and
offering free muffins and coffee. The portable breakfast
is one way for Caltrain to thank the regular commuters at
the station for putting up with the inconvenience of
construction, as well as the patience they have shown,
waiting for the long overdue installation of new steel
stairways on both platforms.
Located below street level, the station’s primary access
has been via two older wooden stairways. The need for
replacing the stairs increased significantly after the 22nd
Street station became a Baby Bullet stop in 2004, serving
some 700 morning commuters. Caltrain spent months
designing and pre-fabricating the new stairs so they
could be installed quickly with a minimum of inconvenience.
The new stairways are wider and less steep, making it
easier for patrons to get in and out of the station. The
$600,000 station improvement project also included
paving the formerly hard-packed ground around the
platforms, which often became muddy during rainy periods.
Passengers have responded to the station upgrades with
overwhelming appreciation. In fact, some passengers have
been thanking the construction workers, who have been
working on the stairway replacement. “We’ve had lots of
compliments,” said Project Manager Claude Gratianne.
“People have been pleasantly surprised.”
Monday morning’s event serves a dual purpose in marking
not only the completion of the station improvement project,
but also reaching the midpoint in Caltrain’s $14.7 million North
Terminal project. Most of that work, which includes adding
crossovers and switches and upgrading signal systems, is
largely invisible to passengers, though they will have a
profound and positive impact on rail operations.
The 22nd Street station project has been one of the simpler
components of the North Terminal project, which began in
September. The more complex activities include the installation
of new track switches in San Francisco, Millbrae and
Burlingame; track rehabilitation in the San Francisco terminal
area; and a modernized signal system.
The track switches improve operational flexibility by allowing
trains to switch between tracks when necessary. The track
rehabilitation at Caltrain’s north terminal in San Francisco will
replace worn rail and ties. The most complicated task of the
project will be the rewiring of a key signal house in the San
Francisco yard, which involves replacing more than 2,000
wires. This work has to be done at night and in phases
because of the complex nature of the work, Gratianne said.
“One of the project objectives is to improve our track and signal
system in the San Francisco terminal so we can run trains faster
through the switches, decrease our travel times and reduce
some of the congestion during peak periods,” he added.
The North Terminal project is part of Caltrain’s commitment to continually
improving its service and maintaining the railroad’s stellar on-time
performance record.
03/06/07 - jbw
Media Contact: Jonah Weinberg – 650.508.6238
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