Published Friday, May 23, 2003, in the San Jose Business Journal

Capitol Corridor budget holds, but don't expect earlier trains

By Andrew F. Hamm

Silicon Valley commuters coming from the East Bay will still have the
option of taking the Capitol Corridor trains to work -- as long as
they don't have to get to the office too early.

The 12-year old state-financed rail service has learned that its $23.5
million budget will not be slashed to help the state solve its own
money problems for the 2003-04 fiscal year, as many had expected.
However, there is no new money to add earlier trains between Oakland
and San Jose.

The Capitol Corridor now carries about 1,600 riders on its four
morning trains between Oakland and San Jose. The train stops in
Hayward, Fremont, Santa Clara's Great America station and San Jose.

The earliest train reaches San Jose at 7:45 a.m. when it's on
time. Many more commuters would like to ride the line but their work
day starts too early, says Ron Diridon, executive director of the
Mineta Transportation Institute.

"I think we need an early train into San Jose and out of San Jose,"
says Mr. Diridon.

"We recognize this and are raring to fill this need," says Gene
Skoropowski, executive director of the Capitol Corridor. "The major
portion of our attention is toward the Oakland-San Jose market."

Passenger numbers on that portion of the line rose approximately 8
percent in the past year to approximately 1,700 daily, Mr. Skoropowski
says. The 100-passenger difference includes riders who get on before
Oakland, it was explained.

The increase is particularly impressive in light of the fact that the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority has seen ridership decline
20 percent, Caltrain is down 17 percent, the Altamont Commuter Express
is down 15 percent and BART is down 10 percent. In fact, Capitol
Corridor ridership between Oakland and Sacramento is up 22 percent
from a year ago.

Part of that is because the service is still young and has room to
grow, says Andy Chow, a transportation consultant and vice president
of BayRail Alliance.

Capitol Corridor has gained a reputation for excellent customer
service, he adds. Despite on-time performance of 84 percent -- about
average for the industry -- regular customers got a 10 percent
reduction in monthly and 10-ticket prices in December after the
service had higher-than-average delays in November.

"They have a very loyal passenger base to grow on," Mr. Chow says.

Earlier trains would make the service better known -- and better used,
Mr. Chow says.

A major step toward increasing service was taken in 2002 when the
Capitol Corridor's governing board reached an agreement with Union
Pacific Railroad to upgrade the track between Oakland and San
Jose. However, some portions of that project have been delayed due to
environmental concerns.

The $88 million project includes $4.5 million toward design plans to
double-track the area between Santa Clara and San Jose in order to
increase train capacity. The three-mile stretch of track between the
city of Santa Clara train station and San Jose's Ron Diridon Station
serves trains from ACE, Caltrain, Union Pacific, Santa Fe and Amtrak.

"It's the most congested piece of track in the state," Mr. Skoropowski
says.

Double-tracking will allow the slower freight trains to move to one
side and even allow two trains to head in one direction.

"It's no use talking about increasing service until these track
improvements are done," says Thomas Blalock, director of BART who also
sits on the Capitol Corridor board. "We simply don't have the money
for the new trains we need. We are positive the ridership is there."


Andrew F. Hamm covers sports management, energy issues and
transportation for the Business Journal.