Since Caltrain has switched to electric all-electric trains, their retired diesel fleet will be sent to Lima, Peru, to serve passenger rail service there, according to a Caltrain press release.
After seven years of electrification work, Caltrain switched to all-electric trains on their 51-mile corridor between San Jose, San Francisco and Gilroy on Sept. 21. With the majority of their diesel fleet retired, Caltrain offered 19 diesel locomotives and 90 retired silver gallery cars for sale. The municipal government of Lima, Peru, agreed to pay $6 million for the fleet to support a line between Lima and the district of Lurigancho-Chosica.
“From every level, we’re really excited, because for 40 years, this equipment served the Peninsula very, very well,” said Sam Sargent, Caltrain director of strategy. “We put a lot of time and effort and, frankly, love into maintaining this equipment for almost 40 years, and for them to get a second life moving people, I think, is really gratifying.”
Since switching to electric trains, Caltrain spokesman Dan Lieberman said Caltrain served over 750,000 riders in October, the highest reported numbers since the COVID-19 pandemic. Lieberman said weekend ridership increased the most, providing half-hourly weekend train services instead of hourly.
“Electrification is an across-the-board improvement of Caltrain service. It’s operating cleaner, greener than it ever has before, as well as generally faster, quieter, more efficient, more comfortable, Wi-Fi enabled,” Lieberman said. “There’s a lot of great improvements thanks to electrified service and it’s very gratifying to see so many people taking advantage of it.”
The train cars that will be sent to Lima were built between 1985 and 1987 and served millions of riders in the Bay Area until their retirement.
The train cars will be helping develop a commuter rail service that spans 25 miles between the main rail station in Central Lima and the town of Chosica. With support from the U.S. Department of State, U.S. Department of Commerce and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Caltrain asserted that the transfer would have significant environmental benefits for the South American nation; Sargent said that if drivers who ride the trains, the amount of carbon dioxide being sent into the air would be drastically reduced, addressing significant air quality issues in the mountainous region.
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It would also help people in the area get around easier, addressing significant congestion issues. Common transportation methods around Lima are cars, trains and private buses. There is no commuter rail servicing those areas at the moment; there is a freight line, but the government of Lima and private sector partners in Peru will be rehabilitating the line to provide a commuter rail service, Sargent said.
“It’s a region that does not yet have commuter rail, and this is going to be a huge environmental, along with mobility, benefit for that community,” Sargent said.
Ultimately, the environmental benefit allowed Caltrain to receive a waiver by the air quality management district to keep the locomotives in operation. Lieberman said the decommissioned locomotives might have been scrapped or sold to collectors if the deal hadn’t gone through.
“The one big challenge there is when it’s a decommissioned locomotive, it’s a very large and expensive piece of equipment that is difficult to manage, so this seems like a much more practical option,” Lieberman said.