Design of new trains rolling out: Caltrain officials consider restrooms, bikes

“We are making a 30-year investment here in these cars,” said Michelle Bouchard, chief operating officer of rail for Caltrain. “We also need to understand that this creates a customized vehicle for us and we have to contemplate all the technical idiosyncrasies.”

As Caltrain is seeking to electrify the tracks to handle projected increases in ridership, staff noted there are trade-offs to accommodating differing needs as it plans to spend $618 million on customized electric trains that will greatly reduce diesel emissions.

After conducting surveys and hosting public meetings on the design of the new trains over the last few years — with more to come — officials noted public priorities centered around increasing capacity by offering more seating and standing space. Providing restrooms and space for bicycles were also top priorities, but would result in compromises, according to staff.

One of the potential biggest changes officials are considering is whether to keep restrooms in cars, which has cost and space challenges, or to invest in adding facilities at stations.

The “discussion generally is centered around how to strike the balance between seats and standees, and bathrooms and general competition for onboard space in light of the growth we’ve experienced,” Bouchard said, later noting “one bathroom in essence equals 12 seats or 24 standees. And that’s quite significant if you look at it per car.”

Preliminary estimates show maintaining one restroom per train would cost about $2.8 million for the entire fleet, not including regular maintenance costs, Bouchard said.

In contrast, creating a basic restroom facility at a station would start around $134,000; however, other complications such as working with cities for water connections and safety concerns are factors as well, Bouchard said.

Those who might be most affected by not having onboard restrooms include riders with long commutes, fans attending events such as Giants or San Jose Sharks games, as well as customers unexpectedly stuck on the train when fatalities occur on the tracks.

Belmont resident George Kranen said having just one restroom on the electric trains would be “grossly inadequate” and raised concerns about those who are stuck for hours on the train while transit police investigate fatal trespassing incidents.

“I can imagine a lot of people shedding yellow tears on those trains with only one bathroom,” Kranen said.

Others noted having a single restroom could be acceptable if it meant increasing capacity for riders to have more standing or seating space.

Another group to consider is those seeking to take bikes aboard Caltrain. Even on its newly added diesel-fleet cars, advocates have urged officials to set aside more room for bicyclists who are often bumped from their scheduled trains due to space constraints.

Adina Levin with Friends of Caltrain said she hopes there will be space for people to bring bikes aboard the new electric trains, but was also supportive of adding parking or wayside facilities at the station. Ultimately, the board should conduct more public outreach as many bicyclists are “skeptical whether wayside facilities would happen,” Levin said.

Bouchard said Caltrain received a lot of requests from the community to weigh in on how onboard bike space will be configured and staff will outline a public input process in the near future.

As part of its bicycle parking management plan, Caltrain has committed $3 million toward station improvements and will have an implementation approach by early next year, Bouchard said.

Staff will continue outreach in the coming weeks and the board is expected to make a decision about the restrooms in June before awarding a contract in July. If its funding plan is confirmed, the new trains would begin to roll out in 2020 with more deliveries in 2021.

Visit caltrain.com for more information.