Rail projects
- Project typeTraffic and transportation
There are several active projects on the Caltrain and Dumbarton railroad corridors that impact the City of Menlo Park. This page summarizes those projects. The City Council adopted a rail policy(PDF, 33KB) to guide decisions regarding rail projects.
Dumbarton Rail Corridor
The Dumbarton Rail Corridor has had several studies of potential commuter rail or other transit service. Most recently, Samtrans pursued a Federal Reconnecting Communities grant to restart transportation and access planning along the portion of the corridor in San Mateo County, with a focus on addressing the connectivity issues for residents of Belle Haven, East Palo Alto, Redwood City, and North Fair Oaks.
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission is leading an effort related to the Dumbarton Highway called Dumbarton Forward that includes a focus on enhancing transit and active transportation options in the corridor, including a potential bus on shoulder pilot along Bayfront Expressway from the Dumbarton Bridge to Marsh Road.
From 2018 to 2020, the San Mateo County Transit District worked with Cross Bay Transit Partners, LLC (Facebook and Plenary Americas) to evaluative the technical and financial feasibility of a transit project Caltrain corridor at Redwood City to the East Bay. This project was put on hold during the pandemic.
The 2017 Dumbarton Transportation Corridor Study identified transportation options and several other studies have been conducted.
High Speed Rail
The California High-Speed Rail Authority is responsible for planning, designing, building and operating a high-speed rail line from San Francisco to the Los Angeles basin. Within the San Francisco to San Jose section, high-speed rail trains are proposed to travel in the Caltrain corridor at speeds up to 110 mph with up to four trains per hour. .
On August 18, 2022, the California High Speed Rail Authority approved the Final Environmental Impact Report for the San Francisco to San Jose section and adopted Alternative A that proposed no additional passing tracks throughout the project section as the preferred alternative.
The construction of the Central Valley segment of HSR is ongoing. More information about the project, the current business plan, and constructon activities can be found on the High Speed Authority webpage.
Caltrain Electrification
The Caltrain Modernization program includes efforts to electrify and upgrade the performance, operating efficiency, capacity, safety and reliability of Caltrain's commuter rail service. The program includes the electrification of the existing Caltrain corridor between San Francisco and San Jose, upgraded train control, upgraded signal system, and new electric trains.
Caltrain Electrification construction is nearing completion and Caltrain is beginning to test electrified trains on the corridor. Electrified service is expected to begin operation in the fall of 2024. At the time of electrification, Caltrain does not expect to increase the number of trains while ridership continues to recover from the pandemic. Find more information on Caltrain's program on the Caltrain website.
City Letters to Caltrain
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Location
554 Ravenswood Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025 View map
37.45370533261725, -122.18061252558547
554 Ravenswood Ave. ,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
554 Ravenswood Ave. ,
Menlo Park, CA 94025
Rail projects