The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (JPB), which manages Caltrain, authorized the execution of an agreement with Stanford University to help further the development of the Caltrain Business Plan.

The Business Plan’s strategy and scope, which was approved by the JPB in February, will define the long-term vision for the fast-growing commuter rail system that connects San Francisco and Silicon Valley. The JPB is collaborating with government agencies, community partners, contractors, and stakeholders to explore economic, policy, and technical approaches.

Under the new agreement, Stanford’s Land, Buildings & Real Estate (LBRE) group will contribute in-kind technical assistance to support the Business Plan and will help secure independent technical resources. In addition, the JPB and Stanford will collaborate on identifying and developing external sources to help fund the plan. As project lead, the JPB will determine the contents of the final Business Plan in its sole discretion.

The Caltrain Business Plan will allow the railway to identify a service model that supports long-term regional job and population growth and surging ridership demand. This work will involve an exploration of economic, policy, and technical approaches that will provide a better understanding of passenger needs and opportunities to maximize the value of Caltrain for local communities.

The Caltrain Business Plan will also look at long-range opportunities to integrate regional rail services that could traverse and connect to the Caltrain corridor. The final Business Plan will include specific targets for service and capacity growth that will describe how Caltrain should grow to meet market demand.

Work on the Caltrain Business Plan began in spring 2017 after the agency awarded contracts for construction of the Caltrain Electrification project that allows the system to replace decades-old diesel equipment with modernized electric trains. When complete, Caltrain Electrification will immediately improve the system’s capacity, service frequency, and travel times, but the strategies recommended in the final Business Plan will need to be implemented to fully realize the benefits that electrification makes possible.

The Business Plan will be completed with input from communities along the corridor and is anticipated to be a year-long process.