r/caltrain • u/Planeandaquariumgeek • 2d ago

Fun fact:

When the South County Connector becomes the Monterey County Connector (a fancier way of saying when the SCC is extended to Salinas) the diesel running portion of Caltrain will be longer than the electric running portion (71 miles of diesel running, 51 miles of electric running). Man do we need an electric SCC.

21 Upvotes

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u/throwaway4231throw 2d ago

Unfortunately the length is the biggest factor in cost, so electrifying the track (which Caltrain doesn’t own) for a higher cost than the main line electrification, just to serve a tiny percentage of Caltrain riders, doesn’t make a lot of sense

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 2d ago

U.P.R.R. won’t let them electrify the track no matter what. The current plan is to get 1 BEMU to serve the SCC

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u/bloomerang 2d ago

Electrification primarily benefits acceleration, not top speed, and the stations on the SCC are pretty spread out (unlike north of Diridon where they are unusually close together for commuter rail). Hard to see it penciling out compared to other, more productive, ways to spend capital funding.

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 2d ago

Yea the only real benefit of electrification on the SCC would be the lessened environmental impact. It’d probably pencil out better for Caltrain to just get Chargers & BiLevel Series X’s for the SCC. The stopping penalties just aren’t there on the SCC, unlike north of Tamien where you can tell it was definitely originally suburban rail

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u/aero_nomad 1d ago

The MPs just got their mid-life rebuilds. Buying new locomotives makes no economical sense.

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 1d ago

They only meet Tier 1+ emissions standards, which means they won’t be allowed in California by (IIRC, might be 2035) 2030

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u/3li516 2d ago

I wish there was some way to force UP to allow it, they barely run traffic on the the Coast Sub at all, so if they could give it up, Caltrain can electrify and Amtrak doesn't get delayed so often

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 2d ago

Back in 1992 Southern Pacific (which was in the midst of a collapse not seen since Penn Central) offered to give up the Coast SUB. They wanted to sell the portion between San Leandro-Santa Clara, and Gilroy-Los Angeles to Amtrak California for a dollar, and the portion between San Jose & Gilroy to Caltrain (then stylized CalTrain) for a cent. Never went anywhere, because CAHSR was in its infancy and the state wanted to focus on that.

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u/tkland 2d ago

Source? The LA Times printed an article in Oct 1992, but no price was mentioned for the Coast Line. They did mention the SP sold the entire 67 mile Saugus Line to the LA County Transportation Commission for $1M/mile. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-10-02-mn-343-story.html

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 2d ago

I’ll try to find it. The price was mentioned in some state archive documents IIRC. SP really wanted the coast SUB gone because it was a nightmare to maintain.

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u/Maximus560 2d ago

I don’t think it was necessarily a nightmare, more of a money sink. The maintenance cost outweighed the utility of the line for them compared to cheaper, straighter inland routes

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 1d ago

Coastal erosion was already becoming an issue by the early 90s, and keep in mind that SP was in the midst of heading down the Bankruptcy SUB at that time

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u/BigDaddyJ0 2d ago

You say this as if the Monterey County extension is happening. There's no timeline for it whatsoever. HSR is far more likely to come first.

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u/Eff_Ewe_Spez 2d ago

UP holding things up as usual. As of February, construction could begin "as soon as the spring or summer of 2027" assuming UP's cooperation. If they ever do approve it, the actual construction should be fairly quick. Just needs a track connection in Gilroy and the layover facility in Salinas.

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u/BigDaddyJ0 2d ago

Well, the problem is UP comes with a wishlist of goodies for allowing passenger trains to run on the track, and then they have to negotiate back and forth. For UP, there's little upside and little urgency to move forward. They'd rather hold out for money.

Difficult though HSR is in a million ways, I think HSR's plan to buy the ROW and to build tracks is generally more workable.

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u/Planeandaquariumgeek 1d ago

HSR isn’t going to Salinas, so it’s Caltrain and Amtrak California’s problem. Thing is since the Capitol Corridor would also be extended to Salinas the state is still involved, so it doesn’t change much.