Passenger Trains > Endless delays on the Capitol Corridor line---day after day.....

The CAPITOL CORRIDOR line in California, which runs between San Jose and Auburn, CA, has been hit for months now by many, many delays.  Today is just another common day:  many trains delayed due to "vehicle on tracks" ahead.  It seems lots of homeless people / people on drugs are leaving their cars on the tracks in Oakland, Richmond, Fairfield and Davis.  Several of today's trains took delays hits of over an hour, while one train is over 2.5 hours late now.  It has become so bad that's it's now a near daily occurrence to have delays like this, which makes one wonder if taking the train is worth it?  Some trains are just cancelled, period.

Another big source of delays are "mechanical problems."  Lots of those.  Many trains cancelled for that reason alone.

When Gene Skoropowski ran this operation, he aggressively sought to mitigate these kinds of problems, and as a result, he got high remarks from passengers, and ridership kept growing.  Now, the CC folks barely  talk about ridership, and most of the trains I see go by barely have any passengers.

Someone at the CC headquarters has got to get serious about these delays;  otherwise, they'll no longer be able to offer a reliable service that's affrordable and attractive.  My friend who works in the HQ admits to the same frustrations, and he used the trains to commute to HQ's in Oakland from Sacramento.

That really sucks about the delays on the Capitol Corridor. It's been over 15 years since I rode on a Capitol Corridor train last but I rode 14 over a lot of the Capitol Corridor route last April. I hope that those Chargers are working fine. Those F59PHIs have been around for a while on Northern Cali.

Here in NJ, NJT has so many train delays. Unfortunately reasons range from mechanical issues to people on the tracks. A lot of NJT equipment is very old.

Sad to hear.  I got to meet Gene and listen to him speak to the riders on the Capital Corrido one evening on my way home from work in San Francisco.  He was really focused on creating a reliable passenger service and I was impressed by his demanor and reponses as he talked with us, his customers.  I know cars on tracks are a little outside of anyone's control, but mechanical issues are like computer software bugs - they should be found an fixed before customers even have a chance to know about them.  Sure hope they can turn things around, I liked my CC commute and the regulars I got to chat with on the bus and the train.

Nathan

And now, Capitol Corridor is offering a way to pass the time on board:

Make the Most of Your Trip with Movies Onboard

We are excited to announce that we’ve added 10 movies you can stream for FREE while riding the Capitol Corridor!
Whether you’re taking a short or long trip, we offer a variety of movies you can enjoy onboard. Let us know which ones are your faves!

1. The Maze Runner
2. Ford Vs Ferrari
3. The Greatest Showman
4. Cheaper By the Dozen
5. The Fault in Our Stars
6. Free Guy
7. Independence Day: Resurgence
8. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
9. Spies in Disguise
10. X-Men Dark Phoenix

-Capitol Corridor

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I received this in an e-mail from Capitol Corridor, also discussing service for 49er football games, the imposed settlement of the railroad labor dispute, and winter weather.  There is as yet no  information on Capitolcorridor.org; in fact that site's page on Internet service warns against "high-bandwidth actions such as streaming video, music..."



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/02/22 00:16 by GenePoon.

I will refrain from making the typical comments about Siemens Immobility, but.......

Passfanatic Wrote:

> Here in NJ, NJT has so many train delays.
> Unfortunately reasons range from mechanical issues
> to people on the tracks. A lot of NJT equipment is
> very old.

The worst performing NJT motive power around are the 15 year old Alstom PL-42's, and they are on their way out.  
3rd QTR 2022 MDBF for them was 8,309 miles. For the EMD GP40's & F40's, which can be anywhere from 35 to 55 years old - 13,439 miles. 47% off NJT delays are "mechanical".

Friday AM rush had the Raritan Line with one hour delays and several cancelled trains. I do not know what broke down. 

Like to see what the breakdown of cause of delays for the CC: locomotives &  UP ?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/03/22 06:20 by joemvcnj.