Caltrain Statement: Response to Governor Newsom’s State of the State

In his first State of The State address, Governor Gavin Newsom pledged to refocus the State’s high-speed rail project on the Central Valley, and also reiterated the State’s obligation to maintain its commitment to help fund completion of the Caltrain Electrification Project.


The State’s high-speed rail project is required to provide $713 million toward Caltrain’s $2 billion project to electrify the rail corridor and replace most of the commuter rail system’s aging diesel trains with a new electric fleet that will reduce travel times, improve train frequency, and increase system-wide capacity for a rail service that over 65,000 daily riders depend on. The Caltrain Electrification Project is currently under construction and is scheduled to be complete in 2022.

Last year, the State increased its commitment to the electrification of Caltrain service when it awarded an additional $165 million to support the purchase of additional electric trains.

Caltrain is currently working to complete the Caltrain Business Plan, which is a long-term evaluation of how rail service should grow on the Caltrain corridor to accommodate ridership demand and address regional traffic congestion through 2040. The Business Plan will recommend a preferred service vision for the corridor and will identify the infrastructure investments needed to support increased service. It will also include strategies for funding these investments and the system’s ongoing operation and maintenance needs.

The State is actively engaged in the efforts to complete the Business Plan.


Jim Hartnett

Executive Director, Caltrain

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About Caltrain: Owned and operated by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Caltrain provides commuter rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with limited commute service to Gilroy. While the Joint Powers Board assumed operating responsibilities for the service in 1992, the railroad celebrated 150 years of continuous passenger service in 2014. Planning for the next 150 years of Peninsula rail service, Caltrain is on pace to electrify the corridor, reduce diesel emissions by 97 percent by 2040 and add more service to more stations.

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