Caltrain
sidewalls, flooring and seating,” says
Michelle Bouchard of Caltrain. “Those
“Firstly, we need to make sure that the interior
power supply to each of the cars is correctly
specified,” says Bouchard. “Next it’s a question
of ensuring that all the raceways that
hold the wiring harnesses are neatly
integrated and easy to maintain. All
of this needs to be considered
upfront, because the channels that
hold the cabling are designed into
the shell of the vehicle.”
Part of the attraction of the
Stadler vehicles, Bouchard explains,
was that the basic platform uses a
design that is already widely used in
Europe. Nonetheless, adapting it to Caltrain’s
requirements involved around 18 months of
dedicated design and engineering work.
More technology potentially means more
devices to maintain, but Caltrain was keen to
Railway Interiors International ANNUAL SHOWCASE 2019 58
maximise serviceability on its new rolling stock.
To that end, the trains are designed to be highly
modular – both in terms of the running gear
and the interior systems. If, for example, an
HVAC unit or a display module fails it can be
replaced with minimal downtime. Consequently,
the total number of train sets can actually
be reduced, as there is less need to provide
replacement services.
The trains will be subject to a
comprehensive test programme before
they enter passenger service. This
will begin in Salt Lake City, Utah,
where the rolling stock is being built
at Stadler’s new US facility. After that
they’ll move on to Pueblo in Colorado
where they will be tested at the FRA’s
Transportation Technology Center. Final
commissioning then involves a 1,000-mile
(1,609km) test on the Caltrain line. Once that
process is complete the trains will be ready to
enter service, providing Silicon Valley with a
fast, efficient and contemporary service to rival
its cutting-edge surroundings.
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
Part of the brief was to go with a vehicle that offered
crash energy management technology, where the
extremities of the car are designed to crumple in the
event of a collision. Caltrain received a special waiver
from the regulators to adopt this European-style
technology, which has since been included
in the regulatory policy.
The seat mountings and other
fittings still have to be designed
to the existing Federal Railroad
Administration (FRA) standards,
but it does mean that the loads
transferred through them in an
accident are likely to be lower.
Safety also guided the material
choices. “We have quite stringent
flammability standards in the
USA that include the surfaces on
can sometimes limit the comfort choices. For
instance, we knew we would have to go with a vinyltype
material for the seats rather than a textile.”
We need to make sure that
the interior power supply to
the cars is correctly specified
Michelle Bouchard, Caltrain
IN NUMBERS
19 train sets
7 cars per train
5 powered cars
per train
2 bike cars per train
1 toilet per train
72 bike spaces
per train
79mph
(127km/h) top speed
US$724m
(€662m) approximate
total cost of trains
176,000 tons
of CO2 emissions
to be cut annually
51 miles (82km) of
track to be electrifi ed
RIGHT: Vinyl-like material
was chosen for the seats
for fire safety reasons
More
than 10,000
members of
the public have
provided feedback
on the design