Caltrain, the Peninsula railroad that dates back to 1863 serving points between San Francisco and San Jose, could potentially cease operations or at the least, cut all non-commute service.
"Caltrain has gone broke and will likely need to wipe out half its service - including weekend, weeknight and midday trains - officials said (April 1)."
"And that's only if we're lucky," Caltrain CEO Mike Scanlon told the agency's board of directors. "This is not an April fool's joke. This is real. We're at a watershed moment where there's a possibility this railroad could go away."
Facing a deficit of $30 million, almost one-third its operating budget, the commuter railroad suffers from having no dedicated funding source, relying on contributions from the transit agencies of the three counties it serves: San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. Each of those agencies must deal with deficits affecting their local transit agencies.
From Streetsblog:
"At Streetsblog, we've covered a lot of transit cuts over the past year, from Muni to AC Transit to SamTrans. But none of those agencies has seen cuts quite as devastating as what appears to be on the way at Caltrain, where all weekday off-peak and weekend service is potentially on the chopping block."
Thanks to SF Streetsblog
FULL STORY: With all its revenue streams diminishing, Caltrain may be forced to cease operations
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