Caltrain Board Concerned About Train Delays

Caltrain's board of directors is discussing why the service has failed to meet its goals for on-time trains for the past four months.

At a regularly scheduled meeting in San Carlos on Thursday, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board of Directors went through several explanations for why trains have been late more than 5 percent of the time for the months  of February, March, April and May.

Fatalities are one of reasons trains fail to meet a 95 percent  on-time goal for a month, spokeswoman Christine Dunn said. Other reasons include how long it takes passengers to get on and  off trains, crowded trains during special events, and instances when trains  move slowly through construction areas, Dunn said.

Another reason trains fail to make their schedule is because Caltrain operators will often wait for a connection with another transit service like Bay Area Rapid Transit.
Trains were on time 93 percent of the time in February and March,  89 percent of the time in April, and 90 percent of the time in May, according  to Caltrain.

The board also unanimously adopted a budget for fiscal year 2012, and discussed successes experienced in a recently implemented program for passengers with bicycles.

Effective last week, crews completed a $300,000 project to make sure every train had two of its cars equipped with the parts to hold bicycles for passengers. Caltrain's older trains are now equipped with two bike cars that have a total capacity of 80 bicycles per train.

The newer trains hold a total of 48 bikes per train, according to Caltrain. Since 2008, Caltrain has made 70 percent of its fleet able to hold 80 bikes. A bicycle advisory committee was formed in 2010 to address the needs of cyclists on the service. The committee includes one representative each from San Francisco, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties.