Caltrain shows why every region should be moving toward regional rail • Hacker News Board

Re: Caltrain shows why every region should be moving toward regional rail

#71

Post by xnx » Sat, Jan 10, 2026, 7:53 PM UTC

nxobject wrote: post #14

rconti wrote: post #5

It's notable that the annual ridership is up 47% in the FY ending June 2025 vs the FY ending June 2024, when electrification was only complete in September 2024-- in other words, it's not even a full year's worth of ridership increase. On the flip side, I find it shocking that ridership is still only 60% of pre-pandemic levels. Anecdotally, the increased service is a game-changer. Speed matters, too, a lot, but the f…

> On the flip side, I find it shocking that ridership is still only 60% of pre-pandemic levels. My understand is that it's been true of commuter rail everywhere - e.g. a Twin Cities commuter railroad has shut down as well due to declining ridership. https://www.progressiverailroading.com/passenger_rail/news/M... Here's a relatively rigorous report from the GAO synthesizing cross-US experiences: https://www.gao.gov/bl…

> My understand is that it's been true of commuter rail everywhere

Yet, astoundingly, many transit system budgets are higher than ever.

Re: Caltrain shows why every region should be moving toward regional rail

#72

Post by gamblor956 » Sat, Jan 10, 2026, 8:13 PM UTC

anonymousiam wrote: post #57

I'm really surprised that nobody has yet commented on the dismal economic failure that the California High Speed Rail has been. After 11 years and $15B ($3.4B in federal grants), they've made very little progress. They just lost $4B more in federal grants because the project is a classic example of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (FWA). California sued over the cancelled grant, but then dropped the suit. My guess is that it…

The HSRA may be an example of waste, but there is no documented fraud or abuse. In 11 years, zealous audits and investigations haven't found any signs of either.

Re: Caltrain shows why every region should be moving toward regional rail

#73

Post by kentonv » Sat, Jan 10, 2026, 9:07 PM UTC

citizenpaul wrote: post #69

kentonv wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bit of an exaggeration. A quick look at the schedule shows they do have multiple trains running in each direction during peak hours: https://www.capmetro.org/plan/schedmap?route=550 But much of the length is, in fact, single-track, making scheduling hard and meaning if a train is late or breaks down it disrupts the whole system. And it's honestly pretty silly to see a train with the form factor of light rail…

What I wrote is accurate. You are referring to a line that goes out of the city to elgin, a tiny town, that is the only part with two tracks. The part that serves the Austin area has only one line and is as I described. Hey what do I know I just lived next to it for 4 years, and drove to work even though I could walk to the train because of how terrible it is and would add 1-2hrs to my commmute.

Err... well... I live in Austin currently.

I'm describing the red line which goes from downtown to Leander. (The one I linked to.) If you're describing some other line then sorry for the confusion, I didn't actually know there was another rail line. There are plans to build a green line to Elgin but AFAIK that's still under construction.

The red line is mostly single-track, but there are several specific segments of dual-track allowing trains to pass each other, which is why they're able to support multiple trains in both directions.

It's still a crappy schedule -- even during rush hour it's still no more than two trains an hour. Supposedly they intend to start running it every 15 minutes once they add some more dual-track segments.

Maybe it was worse when you lived here?

Re: Caltrain shows why every region should be moving toward regional rail

#74

Post by jdlshore » Sun, Jan 11, 2026, 6:59 AM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #70

jdlshore wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you’re thinking of streetcars—trains that share right of way with cars. Light rail often has its own right-of-way with priority over cars. (That’s what the crossing guards are for.)

> Light rail often has its own right-of-way with priority over cars It’s still at grade. Priority is meaningless if there is a car in the way when the guards come down. And those guards, in interrupting traffic, are annoying to drivers. (I’d also point out that the line between trams, street cars and light rail is ambiguous. It’s an American term describing principally European infrastructure.)

> Priority is meaningless if there is a car in the way when the guards come down.

This possibility is so far outside my experience I can only think your perspective has more to do with emotion than logic. Maybe it happens more often in your city than mine.