First CalMod EMU on Test Track

As part of the Caltrain Modernization (CalMod) Program, Caltrain recently placed the first EMU (electric multiple-unit) trainset from Stadler Rail on the 25KV-electrified test track at the builder’s Salt Lake City manufacturing facility.

Over the coming weeks, Caltrain said, the trainset will undergo high-voltage static testing as power is incrementally applied while it’s stationary on the track. The equipment will then undergo low-speed acceleration and brake tests.

All systems, among them doors, HVAC and public address, will undergo functional tests before the first trainset travels to TTCI, Pueblo, Colo., for higher-speed testing on the electrified RTT (Railroad Test Track), which can accommodate speeds up to 165 mph. (The first of Amtrak’s new Alstom-built high-speed Acela trainsets for the Northeast Corridor is currently testing at TTCI).

Caltrain purchased new, high-performance KISS bi-level EMUs from Stadler Rail to replace the current diesel-locomotive-hauled trains as part of Caltrain Electrification. Caltrain’s new equipment are a key component of the CalMod Program to electrify the corridor from San Francisco’s 4th and King Station to approximately the Tamien Station in San Jose.

Download Stadler’s spec sheet:

In addition, Caltrain announced that more than 1,000 catenary poles have now been installed along the corridor from South San Francisco to San Jose.