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Caltrain's new electric trains

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Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#71

Post by solardev »

vasco wrote: post #57
solardev wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> As seen in the timeline graphic, allowing the step to deploy and retract while the train is in motion would remove this wasted dwell time. It's interesting... I wonder if extending the step while the train is in motion has the potential to knock people down who's currently on the platform and standing too close to the train. > since the step itself does not extend over the platform (it reaches only 63.5 inches from…

> I dunno about that. What if they had an umbrella or grocery bag or such dangling over the platform edge? If it's over the edge the train itself will take their arm with it.

Per the video, the rest of the train is a relatively smooth, consistently flat surface: https://x.com/clem_tillier/status/1822833211019546624

The step does stick out a little more.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#73

Post by drewda »

kderbe wrote: post #23

Anyone interested in Caltrain operation should check out the Caltrain HSR blog, https://caltrain-hsr.blogspot.com/ . It's not just about high-speed rail. For example, last week the blog pointed out that the new trains take an extra 8-10 seconds after stopping at a station to begin opening the doors. Which chews up 12% of the trip time savings achieved by the move from diesel to electrified trains!

That's interesting and I hope it can be improved -- but with all due respect to Clem Tiller's expertise, I disagree about it affecting even 12% of the most important figure.

My understanding is that the primary overall improvement is about the additional service hours that can be provided by the new trains.

Yes, it's nice to shorten the time for an individual traveling SF SJ... but the benefits compound even more because now Caltrain can offer more trips per day using the same number of train consists.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#74

Post by akira2501 »

jeffbee wrote: post #12
chiph wrote: post #3

Someone tell the Town of Atherton that electric trains don't pollute. I think they're now up to 3 lawsuits against California high speed rail, at least two of which are on environmental reasons.

Can we just tell the town of Atherton to not exist? Atherton is a "general law" city of California and the legislature can dissolve it with a simple majority vote. The purpose of a city in California is to advance and further state policy, so I never understood why the state stands around acting powerless while reactionaries thwart broadly supported state initiatives.

> The purpose of a city in California is to advance and further state policy,

The purpose of ALL government is to _serve_ citizens. There are too many people who see government as the bully pulpit, which is bad enough, but to openly lust after that power is always unsettling to me.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#75

Post by akira2501 »

They're better for the environment.

They're better for the environment.

THEY'RE BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT!

also.. they're less comfortable and less rider friendly than the old trains.. so if your goal is to get more people onto them you're probably going to fail.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#76

Post by CuriousCosmic »

akira2501 wrote: post #75

They're better for the environment. They're better for the environment. THEY'RE BETTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT! also.. they're less comfortable and less rider friendly than the old trains.. so if your goal is to get more people onto them you're probably going to fail.

what? the article was literally about how they are more comfortable and they are more convenient because they accelerate and break better allowing more stops without taking longer.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#77

Post by Lammy »

plorkyeran wrote: post #62
Lammy wrote: post #47

> Instead of the rumble of a diesel engine, the trains now run on 100% electricity. What fuel is used to generate the electricity? (Honest question since I have no idea how electricity markets work) > Caltrain […] was the first service to convert from diesel to electric in the West. (A handful of other passenger trains in the country run on electricity, including an Amtrak line in the Northeast.) This is so misleadin…

Convert is an important word there. It's very obviously not the first electric train service, but they're normally built as electric from the beginning.

> Convert is an important word there.

Yes, that's why it's misleading when the author is framing the important part as "electric train exists now" and not "electric train used to be non-electric". If one must nitpick, the biggest conversion west of the Mississippi River was probably the Milwaukee Road whose converted electrified main line dwarfed Caltrain's 51 miles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroad_electrification_in_th...>

“The first division to be electrified was the Rocky Mountain Division from Harlowton, Montana to Avery, Idaho. This covered a distance of 438 miles (705 km) and began electric operation in 1917. The electrification remained in operation until 1974, when diesel locomotives took over.”

“The second division to be electrified was the Coast Division between Othello, Washington to Tacoma, and to Black River just south of Seattle. This covered a distance of 207 miles (333 km) and began electric operation in 1919. The electrification remained in operation until 1972, when diesel locomotives took over.”

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#78

Post by Lammy »

tedsanders wrote: post #68
Lammy wrote: post #47

> Instead of the rumble of a diesel engine, the trains now run on 100% electricity. What fuel is used to generate the electricity? (Honest question since I have no idea how electricity markets work) > Caltrain […] was the first service to convert from diesel to electric in the West. (A handful of other passenger trains in the country run on electricity, including an Amtrak line in the Northeast.) This is so misleadin…

tl;dr: solar, mostly The short answer is that average generation in CA is: - 51% solar - 22% natural gas - 21% other renewables (hydro + wind + geothermal) - 6% nuclear - 0.1% coal sources: - https://www.eia.gov/state/print.php?sid=CA - https://www.gridinfo.com/california - caiso.com is also good The medium answer is that trains run during daylight hours, so they probably consume more solar and less natural gas than…

Neat. Thank you!

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#79

Post by ElijahLynn »

I lived near an electric train in Orenco Station in Hillsboro Oregon. The noise, while quieter than diesel is still fatiguing and I think all housing within 1,000 feet should be required to use building materials that keep the interior noise below 60dba, like triple pane windows and acoustic seals on doors.

Once we left, it took weeks for our bodies to relax into the silence. It's not normal to have chronic noise like that and increased our stress. It shouldn't be legal to build buildings without noise protection in place.

Re: Caltrain's new electric trains

#80

Post by CaliforniaKarl »

iknowstuff wrote: post #20
tj-teej wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's the local, when you drive you don't stop every 5 miles and pick-up/drop-off a couple dozen people :) The bullets (limited stops) is actually really fast (~45 minutes MTV to SF). At rush hour when it's 1.5 hours from Sunnyvale to downtown SF that's when the bulk of the bullets are scheduled and it's twice as fast as driving, plus you can have a beer ;)

How do the “bullets” work? Passing local trains when they’re stopped on stations? I didn’t notice a third set of rails anywhere for that.

There are three passing points on the line, where trains can pass each other without interrupting opposite-direction traffic. From North to South, they are…

• Between 22nd Street & South San Francisco, with Bayshore accessible via the 'local' tracks only.

• Between Redwood City & Menlo Park.

• Between Sunnyvale & Santa Clara, with Lawrence accessible via the 'local' tracks only.

Today, the northernmost and southernmost passing points are used by the Limited or Baby Bullet services to overtake the Local services. The service being passed has the middle station (Bayshore or Lawrence) as a scheduled stop, and remains in the station until they observe either a clear signal, or until they observe the faster service passing.

The passing point between Redwood City & Menlo Park is mostly used when a service (any service) is running slow, to allow on-time services to overtake. This is especially important when the slow-running service is a Local.

Finally, there are crossovers placed frequently along the line, often every 2-3 stations. These are used most often when maintenance is being performed on one section of track, or if a train is disabled. They are not used during normal operations.

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