Electrifying a Bay Area railway made it faster, cleaner, and more frequent
Adina Levin took Caltrain to San Francisco from her home in Menlo Park one night last month. A 40-minute train ride seems mundane, but Levin’s trip reflects a major shift in the region’s transportation ecosystem, the result of a radical modernization of the rail corridor.
Caltrain, the commuter rail line linking San Francisco to Silicon Valley, spent $2.4 billion to electrify 51 miles of track in 2024, removing diesel trains from that segment of the system. Electric trains accelerate much faster, reducing the trip between San Francisco and San Jose by 23 minutes. Upgrading so quickly allowed the agency to add stops without lengthening overall travel times, increasing the number of stations served each weekday by about 20 percent.
That meant Levin, who runs the public transportation advocacy organization Seamless Bay Area, could take one of the trains that run every half hour until 10 p.m. every weeknight. In addition to making trip planning easier, the improved service encourages more people to ride, and weekend ridership has more than doubled. “Before electrification, getting home at 10 p.m., the trains ran once an hour,” she explained. “If you miss the train, it’s a very miserable experience.”
Caltrain electrification offers insight into how rail systems can improve service, attract riders and reduce emissions without building new lines. Upgrading existing corridors can complement high-speed rail projects — or provide a faster, cheaper way to improve regional transit — even as agencies grapple with declining post-pandemic ridership and uncertain funding.
The move away from diesel on its busiest corridor has made Caltrain a more attractive option, with ridership jumping 60 percent last year. Riders appreciate quieter cars and smoother rides, and the benefits extend beyond comfort: A University of California, Berkeley study found that electric trains expose riders to 89 percent less cancer-causing black carbon — a reduction, one of the researchers said, is comparable to what California cities have achieved in three decades of air quality regulation.
Caltrain estimates that switching to electric trains will reduce about 250,000 tons of carbon emissions per year. Faster, more convenient service could deepen these reductions if more people choose train over car as they return to the office in greater numbers.
The transit agency’s gains stand out in a region where ridership at all 27 transit agencies remains well below pre-pandemic levels — a challenge seen nationally. The high rate of remote work in the Bay Area has been particularly painful for systems like Caltrain, which rely on fares for much of their revenue. Although people are returning to the office, Caltrain ridership remains about 60% of what it was pre-COVID. To preserve service, the state approved a $590 million emergency loan to four local agencies, including Caltrain, and voters may also be asked to raise the sales tax to fund transit.
Caltrain electrification could shape the future of transportation beyond the Bay Area. California is pursuing its dream of building a high-speed rail line connecting San Francisco and Los Angeles, a system that will share a section of track that Caltrain just upgraded.
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The project also raises broader questions about rail investments. With federal support dwindling for projects aimed at getting people out of cars, local and state governments may prioritize small electrification projects over larger, more ambitious efforts. Even Caltrain wasn’t cheap: The agency faced $462 million in cost overruns due to pandemic-related disruptions, funding delays during the first Trump administration and lawsuits. But Yonah Freemark, a researcher at the Urban Institute, said the country should pursue projects of all sizes and that “states and localities need to step up to do more work themselves.”
Electric rail was once widespread, Freemark said, but diesel took over as cities phased out electric streetcars and razed intercity lines and as the price of gasoline fell. Although rail electrification remains rare in the United States, it has had some success. The full electrification of Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor enabled the construction of the higher-speed Acela Line, increasing market share from New York to Washington, DC, from 37 to 83 percent between 2000 and 2021.
Caltrain views its project as a model for others. “This was the first transition from diesel to electric in a generation that took place on an active rail line, and while it was certainly a complicated process, we proved it could be done,” agency spokesperson Dan Lieberman told Grist.
The Caltrain system continues south from San Jose to the town of Gilroy, but this section is owned by Union Pacific and has not been electrified. For now, passengers going to the end of the line are being transferred to diesel trains, but Caltrain plans to deploy battery-powered machines in 2028. It hopes to electrify its entire system by 2035.
Zack Deutsch-Gross, who heads the transportation and housing advocacy organization TransForm CA, said Caltrain’s electrification shows how public transportation can expand beyond commuters to reach people who want transportation at any time. The line proved popular with sports fans, for example, and ridership increased 11 percent in the week leading up to Super Bowl LX at Levi’s Stadium, south of San Francisco. The arena will host six FIFA World Cup matches this summer.
Levin sees the electrification of Caltrain as a key step toward building a world-class mass transit system, operating all day, evening and weekend. “It’s a critical part of the transportation system,” she said. “You can use it to go to an office job. You can use it to visit a friend. You can use it for everything you do.”
