OAKLAND, CALIF., – Effective Monday, August 13, 2012, for the first time in 20 years of service the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) will reduce the number of weekday trains it operates. On August 13 the CCJPA will discontinue Trains 518 and 553. Train 518 is a very early morning train that currently departs Oakland Jack London Square at 4:30am and carries an average of 25 people per weekday. Customers who like to leave Sacramento late on Train 553 need not worry about changing their schedule. Train 553 will be replaced by Train 551 and will keep the 9:10pm departure out of Sacramento each weeknight.
“The decision to reduce weekday service levels from 32 to 30 trains took months of careful consideration, but like other public transit systems that rely on limited state funding, the CCJPA was faced with cost-effectiveness decisions that lead to this action,” CCJPA Managing Director David Kutrosky said. “Going from 32 to 30 trains per weekday will help the CCJPA save approximately $1 million a year with no impact on projected revenues. These cost savings will be used to address steep increases in diesel fuel prices. The new service plan will ensure the continued operation of trains that have much higher passenger counts.”
To accommodate Train 518’s riders, also effective on August 13th, an existing Davis to Sacramento Amtrak Thruway bus will be scheduled to begin its weekday trip at Martinez at 4:45am. The bus will make stops at Suisun/Fairfield, Davis and Sacramento stations and provide connections to San Joaquin Train 702 to Bakersfield.
This service adjustment does not affect Capitol Corridor service between Oakland and San Jose and there will be no changes to weekend Capitol Corridor service.
More About Train 553
Effective, Monday August 13, Train 553 is being renumbered to Train 551 as two westbound trips—previously scheduled to leave Sacramento at 6:40pm and 7:40pm—will be merged into Train 549, which will depart Sacramento at 7:10pm. As stated earlier, the last westbound departure from Sacramento will remain at 9:10pm.
Other Changes: Train numbers 520, 531, 549
Eastbound changes:
* Train 520 will operate 10 minutes earlier.
Westbound changes:
* Train 531 will operate 10 minutes earlier.
* Train 549 will operate 30 minutes later.
* Train 551 will operate 90 minutes later (taking over Train 553’s slot).
CCJPA made these adjustments because the completion of Sacramento Railyard Relocation Project on August 12, 2013 will enable additional overnight train storage in Sacramento, eliminating the need to operate an extra round-trip every day to move train sets to/from Oakland as they had to do when train storage space was limited. This plan allowed the CCJPA to make minor adjustments to provide better spacing between departures. For the complete train schedule click on the “Route and Schedules” tab on this web site.
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