Caltrain operates
almost 100 trains a
day with a mixture
of Bombardier and
Nippon coaches, and
EMD and MPI loco-
motives. Some of
the coaches were
purchased from the
Seattle “Sounder”
fleet, an example
of the prototype’s
exchange of equipment
as needs vary.
A “local” example
There are two fleets of
commuter rail opera-
tions in my hometown
area of Washington DC;
Maryland Area Regional Commuter (MARC), and Virginia Rail
express (VRE).
MARC operates on some of the oldest right-of-way in the coun-
try, including from Baltimore to Ellicott City, MD. The former
Baltimore and Ohio trackage supports service from Baltimore
to Washington on three lines connecting the two cities with
stations as far west as Harper’s Ferry, MD. One of the lines
shares northeast corridor rails with AMTRAK and uses electric
locomotives. The other two use diesels and a variety of con-
ventional and bi-level equipment.
VRE provides service from downtown Washington to
the Virginia suburbs. There are two lines – one south to
3
3: A prototype VRE train
departs Alexandria station on
rails shared with Amtrak, CSX
and NS.
