⁴ᴷ⁶⁰ Caltrain Electric Train Soft Launch: First Revenue Ride! (August 11th, 2024)

Video Category: Rides
Agency: Caltrain
Train: #221
Model: STADLER KISS EMU
Route: L2 to San Francisco
From: San Mateo Station
To: Millbrae Station

It’s finally the big day for Caltrain riders!

Caltrain EMU trains have been in testing for a while, up to this point that they’ve been working very well with increased speed and reliability. Because of that, the originally planned full electric service on September 21st is now yielding its way to a soft launch starting August 11th, with random trips operating by an electric train. This soft launch was not official for a week and Caltrain made announcements saying that there will not be a soft launch just so they will not have crowded trains to affect reliability.

Later on, Caltrain finally announced publicly that the soft launch will be starting today (August 11th, 2024), with random trips being an electric. I was able to catch this first northbound train of the day heading towards San Francisco from Tamien! These trains are much quicker when it comes to stopping and accelerating, with announcements and signs onboard directing riders what is the current stop. You can see in the video that I walk through the cars and a lot of transit enthusiasts are also there!