The introduction of electric trains and faster, more frequent service has led to a dramatic increase in ridership.
Caltrain, the commuter rail service that connects San Francisco and San Jose, saw ridership grow by 76 percent between June 2024 and June 2025 after the agency introduced electric trains and more frequent service last year. “In other words, the effort to modernize the Caltrain corridor and make it ready for high-speed rail is already showing its worth,” writes Roger Rudick in Streetsblog San Francisco.
According to Rudick, “Electrification allows much faster, and—as long as there is a concurrent investment in operations—more frequent service. That attracts more riders and gets people out of cars.” Caltrain ridership is now higher than pre-pandemic levels on weekends. According to Adriana Rizzo of Californians for Electric Rail, “Electrified Caltrain is also the first segment of California High-Speed Rail to start operation, and we can apply lessons learned to the rest of the system.” The first Trump administration tried to kill the electrification project, Rudick notes, and has now pulled federal funding for the high-speed rail project.
FULL STORY: Caltrain Electrification Boosted Ridership 76 Percent in June
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Passengers Flock to Caltrain After Electrification
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Eagle County Government
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
Nashville Planning Department
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
The Pocatello Development Authority
The Urban Renewal Agency of the City of Pocatello
Journal of the American Planning Association