Caltrain Property Access Agreement Process

Caltrain frequently receives proposals for "non-railroad uses" of its property, such as utilities, commercial businesses, development proposals, or community facilities. Caltrain has an extensive process to review and approve proposed uses of JPB property. Approved uses are issued a Property Access Agreement (such as a license agreement or a lease) that specifies the terms of use.

Parties interested in using Caltrain’s property must be issued a Property Access Agreement from Caltrain in order to receive rights to utilize the railroad’s property. An overview of Caltrain’s process for reviewing proposed uses of its property and for issuing Property Access Agreements is provided below with three main steps. Uses that are shorter than 6 months in duration or that will result in the issuing of a right-of-entry permit should proceed directly to Step #2 below.

Property Access Agreement Process for Proposed Uses of Caltrain Property

1. Rail Corridor Use Policy Review
   • Applies to proposed uses that would use Caltrain property for 6 months or longer (including all Property Access Agreements except right-of-entry permits).
   • For proposed uses that would use Caltrain property for more than 6 months, the interested party’s proposed use of Caltrain’s property must first be reviewed for compatibility with the railroad’s current and future needs for its property.
   • In 2020, the Caltrain Board adopted the Caltrain Rail Corridor Use Policy (RCUP) to guide the "use compatibility" decision-making process at the beginning of the Property Access Agreement review process.
   • The RCUP review process is described in more detail here.
   • At the end of the RCUP review process, if a proposed project is determined to be compatible with the railroad’s current and future needs, then additional review is required to complete the Property Access Agreement approval process, including engineering, operational, and regulatory review - as described in steps 2 and 3 below.
2. Engineering Review
   • Engineering review is typically the first step for uses that are shorter in duration than 6 months and for uses that will use a right-of-entry permit.
   • Engineering review is the second step in the review process for uses that will use Caltrain property for more than 6 months, following the RCUP’s compatibility review process (Step #1 above).
   • Caltrain’s Engineering and Construction review leads the engineering, operational, and regulatory review for proposed uses of JPB property when such review is required.
   • Engineering review is typically required for new construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance within the Caltrain right-of-way.
   • Additional information about the Engineering review process can be found here.
   • Following receipt of the necessary approvals from Engineering review, the interested party must then complete additional review from Real Estate and Property Development review (Step #3 below).
3. Real Estate and Property Development Review
   • Following the RCUP’s compatibility review process and the Engineering review process, Real Estate and Property Development completes a final property and regulatory review for the proposed use.
   • For approved uses, Real Estate and Property Development completes the Property Access Agreement process by issuing the appropriate Property Access Agreement to the interested party, in accordance with the agency’s adopted Policy of Property Conveyance.