Artist's rendering of the new electrified Caltrain.
Caltrain has begun electrification-related work in San Mateo and it largely entails pole and wire installation as well as construction of a power station near the Hillsdale Shopping Center.
The $2 billion modernization program is expected to replace 75 percent of Caltrain’s current diesel fleet — some locomotives date back to the 1980s — with electric trains traveling between San Jose and San Francisco by 2022.
Caltrain updated residents on the timeline for construction at a meeting Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Digging is underway and will take two to three months followed by another two to three months of foundation construction, which entails excavation and the installation rebar cages underground. Starting in the winter, crews will install poles and the overhead contact system, which will supply power to the electric trains. That work will last four to five months and then construction on the power station — called a paralleling station — will commence early next year. That project will take four to six months.
But Greg Parks, a consultant who led the meeting, said the above timeline is only a rough estimate as much of the work in San Mateo can’t begin until Caltrain wraps up similar work being done in nearby cities.
The paralleling station will be located just south of the Hillsdale Station on Caltrain property at the intersection of South El Camino Real and Hillsdale Boulevard.
The paralleling station entails a transformer and control house adjacent to a bridge-like overhead structure that will be erected over the Caltrain tracks there and could be up to 50 feet tall. Parks said the tracks are elevated there so the paralleling station will not be visible to nearby homes, but it will be visible from the shopping center. Parks also suggested it would not be possible to install the paralleling station underground.
Residents expressed only minimal concern with the paralleling station, but one woman anticipated some degree of backlash from Bay Meadows residents who might be able to see the eyesore from their homes.
A proposed paralleling station recently sparked concern in Burlingame because of its proximity to homes, and within about a week, the city and Caltrain found a way to move the station to the other side of the tracks and away from homes.
The San Mateo paralleling station is one of 10 that will be constructed along Caltrain tracks between San Jose and San Francisco.
As for the poles that will support the wires that power the electric trains, about 190 of them will be installed in San Mateo. The poles will range from 30 feet to 50 feet in height and will stand about 180 feet apart from each other. But in some areas, along curves, for example, the poles might be closer together, Parks added.
Pole installation will occur at night while construction on the paralleling station will happen during the day and on weekends. Caltrain will install a total of 3,000 poles to electrify the corridor.
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(3) comments
Oh so now there is full disclosure of the 50 foot heights that will run down the center of the City of San Mateo...once the work begins of course...it was buried in the past, via oblique elevations drawings and oblique discussions of the matter....Burlingame city council takes so much better care of their citizens than the San Mateo council does...
This is a shocking story.
I don't know, who is more insane & irresponsible. The people at Caltrain, planning to actually work on this, sort of plan, at this time.
Or the reporter, who may be under- reporting this story. And, who possibly should have had, a bit more, of a critical voice, in reporting.
I would guess, this article should have been written, with a lot more, what-ifs, about this situation.
Can someone write back here, to confirm, if my thinking, is correct ?
And that Caltran, is still only in some sort of planning phase, around electrification.
I would guess, Caltrain, cannot just start tearing up earth, for a project, not fully conceived, or permited, yet.
To conclude, and to try to add to, the words of Vincent Wei. The reasons, Caltrain does not have, the proper permits yet, is because of, the many health questions, and land take-away issues, train electrification, currently asks for, along the peninsula corridor.
Caltrain officals, may be drunk, from the incredibly large, transportation dollars, the Trump administration, is trying to dump into, Ca. cities. And, cities throughout the country, at this time.
As this is, a long held, republican idea, in how to build, a u.s. economy, and, local public infrastructure.
So a republican administration, giving tons of money, to agencies like Caltrain, at this time, may describe, the Hillsdale Caltrain project.
As this project, may be irrational, greedy, not thought out, & arrogant, in the name, of local infrastructure building.
And then, being described, by a reporter, who may have had some difficulty, writing this story, because of the greed brought on, in the continual republican beliefs, in how to hand out, its federal dollars.
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