GPS system tracks Caltrain delays to a T
By Darren Murph 
posted August 2nd 2007 5:36AM
posted August 2nd 2007 5:36AM
[Via The GPS Insider]
posted August 2nd 2007 5:36AM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
How is this different from tracking systems that have been around for years in other cities?
Melbourne hardly has the most advanced public transport system in the world, but real-time information is available for trains, trams and buses. GPS is only used for the latter, the first two had their systems installed before GPS became widespread.
Oh, and regional trains here are about to have Wifi installed on the commuter services. :)
Maybe it's just me, but I think the money could be better spent on making sure the trains operate on-time in the first place.
If city governments would only approve of monorails, the causes for delayed trains would be very nearly eliminated completely. Most of the delays in trains deal with automotive traffic-related issues. Elevating the rail (or putting it in a tunnel; either would work, but the former is cheaper) would not only make the rail system more safe, but it'd operate with fewer obstructions. Which means, frankly, they can travel faster along their routes, with substantially less fear of impact from foreign objects, are substantially more quiet (both for the riders and for those who have to live next to the tracks), etc. It's a win all around. But, political and corporate interests always intervene in progress. *sigh*
Aren't these mainly commuter trains? I'd have thought most commuters would know their trains well enough to be able to look out of a window and know how late they're running.
OMG the train has derailed onto the street!! That'll leave a mark!
lol! Glad I'm not the only one who was wtfing at that. :p
Yeah, that's Jack London Square in Oakland. Train tracks go right down the center of the street. I'm used to seeing that with streetcars, but this is the only place I know of where full size locomotives use a main road. And no, they don't stop at the stop sign. Freight trains go through here too. Sure does tie up traffic when they do!
Indeed, that is Jack London square. I was actually sitting on that train as the photo must have been taken. Two things are interesting about the picture chosen. First, it is a Caltrain engine at the front, but the second engine and the rest of the train is a Amtrak train. Second, Caltrain does not run through Oakland Jack London! The Amtrak train was returning a serviced Caltrain engine back to San Jose!
I thought CalTrain was only from SF to San Jose....
see the simple & new technology from Japan Railways Wi-Fi clock that makes it so. This clock shows you exactly which stop your train is at, so you can plan ahead to see how long it will take for it to reach your stop see here http://tinyurl.com/yolavf
I knew they must have had bad delays when I saw a Caltrain (cars and locomotive) go through my town. Normally, this would not be very odd, except for the fact that i live in a western suburb of Chicago, several thousand miles away from thier areas of operation. They must have gotten lost :0
Caltrain, what a fucking joke. $7.50 to go from San Jose to downtown San Francisco (45 miles or so). Takes close to two hours, unless you take the pompously named "baby bullet" which only runs 3 times a day in each direction. At rush hour you get a lavish 2 trains per hour, and 1 train per hour the rest of the time if you're lucky. And all the money they spent on the supposedly high-speed "baby bullet" trains doesn't make any sense to me, since I've seen them operate their old crappy trains on the same schedule as the "baby bullet". In other words, they didn't need to spend a fortune on new trains to run a better schedule.
To add insult to injury, the system is plagued with delays, from a few minutes to hours.
Overpriced, inconvenient and unreliable, is there any wonder mass transit is failing in California?
When was the last time you checked out Caltrain? They run 2 trains an hour during midday hours, and there are 6 northbound baby bullets just during the morning communte. 5 trains per hour leave San Jose in the morning rush, and 5 per hour leave SF in the evening. Both my husband and I commute on the train frequently and the only time it was more than a few minutes late was when a train hit a truck. It only took them 2 hours to clear the tracks get the trains running again. I generally ride in the early afternoon and my train is always on time.
Sure it's not a cheap ride, but we only travel 2 zones. It's still much cheaper than BART. Having those silly signs display something worthwhile would be nice though.
That's actually a Caltrain engine pulling an Amtrak train through Jack London Square in Oakland... Caltrain runs from SF to San Jose/Gilroy.
No comment I just want note that I work along the tracks where this pic was taken. Less then a block from that spot...and I'm there now...weeeeeeeeeeeeeird.
A quick way to access Caltrain schedule on your web-enabled mobile phone is http://m.iCaltrain.com and an iPhone optimized version is available as well.
ahh. jack london square. Celebrating the life of a man who actually didn't like oakland that much. moved away, and shot himself.
that train crossing is insane too.
Ah Jack London, I live within earshot of the tracks, one block away from the Amtrak station actually - hark I hear the horn of an approaching train right now, how quaint. And yes, they run that train and many other freight trains right down the middle of the street. Why just two weeks ago someone go killed by one - we all said it was bound to happen but no one listened, or if they did they didn't care.