On Friday, August 24, Caltrain began brake testing from Menlo Park to Santa Clara as part of the Positive Train Control (PTC) Project. The nature of the test is to run the train uphill, level, and downhill to test the enforcement of a stop on the train by the PTC system. The test train will run at night during nonrevenue service hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for several weekends. They anticipate completing six runs a night by 6 a.m., Saturday/Sunday mornings, and by 4 a.m., Monday mornings. Headlights will be used, but there will be no extemporaneous noise impacts. 

Caltrain’s Positive Train Control (PTC) Project is installing an advanced signal system that will equip the corridor with federally-mandated technology that will improve safety and increase reliability and operating performance. PTC will be interoperable with all other rail systems that access the Caltrain corridor, including commuter rail, freight rail and, in the future, high-speed rail. A portion of the system is planned to be operable by the end of 2018.

PTC is a key component of the Caltrain Modernization Program that will electrify and upgrade the performance, operating efficiency, capacity, safety and reliability of Caltrain’s commuter rail service, providing a modernized rail service that will help meet growing ridership demand between San Francisco and San Jose. 

For more information about this project and this work, please visit the Positive Train Control webpage or contact the Caltrain project team at 650-508-7726.