Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles (2018)

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1 Introduction This report is a companion volume to TCRP Research Report 200: Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 1: Guidebook. This volume provides a profile for each commuter rail system in North America as of December 2017. Purpose Commuter rail service commonly refers to passenger trains operated to carry riders living in suburban areas to and from work in city centers. Commuter rail often uses track that is shared with freight rail operations or track that was sold by a freight operator and may now be owned by the public transportation provider with an arrangement that allows for joint use by freight, intercity passenger, and commuter trains. Over the last 40 years, there has been considerable change in the way commuter rail services are provided in the United States and Canada. The commuter rail industry in North America today has grown to 31 commuter rail systems serving 25 metropolitan areas in North America. There are a wide variety of strategies and approaches for managing the operation and maintenance of these services. While some commuter rail agencies operate and maintain the rail service directly, many agencies contract for all or part of operating and maintenance services. The contracts may be with the host freight railroad, with the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) in the United States or VIA Rail Canada, or with an independent contractor. The purpose of the commuter rail profiles is to provide a reference for the development of commuter rail and to document the wide variety of strategies and approaches for managing the operation and maintenance of these services. Commuter Rail System Profiles This volume provides a profile for each of the 31 commuter rail systems. The information presented in each profile includes • The history of the commuter rail service • The background of the operating environment for context • Recent significant project events (e.g., new construction and expanded levels of service) • Governance (e.g., statutory framework and policy responsibility) • General information about contracted services • Responsibility for oversight and reporting responsibilities • Performance statistics from the National Transit Database 2012–2016 or available data from the Canadian Urban Transit Association (e.g., annual operating cost, directional route miles, revenue miles, annual passenger trips, and annual passenger miles) • A matrix to illustrate the entity (agency, host railroad, Amtrak/VIA Rail Canada, or an independent contractor) responsible for major service functions (train operations, maintenance of way, and maintenance of equipment) and selected support functions (e.g., station operations and maintenance, security services, and revenue collection). Texas A&M Transportation Institute updated each matrix in December 2017. Table 1 lists the commuter rail systems in service in North America as of 2017. The order is United States and Canada, alphabetical by state or province, and then alphabetical by commuter rail system.

2 Contracting Commuter Rail Services, Volume 2: Commuter Rail System Profiles The data and information give the location, age by year opened to public service, and size by number of rail lines and total directional route miles for each commuter rail system. Table 1. Commuter rail systems in North America. S ta te o r P ro vi n ce Commuter Rail System Service Area Year Open to Public Service Le g ac y N ew S ta rt Number of Rail Lines Total Directional Route Miles UNITED STATES CA ACE Stockton–San Jose, CA 1998 x Single 172 CA Caltrain San Francisco–San Jose–Gilroy, CA 1992 x Single 154 CA COASTER San Diego County, CA 1995 x Single 82 CA Metrolink Southern CA–Los Angeles, CA 1992 x Multiple (7) 824 CA SMART Sonoma and Marin counties, CA 2017 x Single 86 CO RTD Denver, CO 2016 x Two 59 CT SLE New Haven–New London, CT 1990 x Single 101 FL SunRail Central FL–Orlando, FL 2014 x Single 64 FL Tri-Rail Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami–Dade counties, FL 1989 x Single 142 IL Metra Chicago, IL 1983 x Multiple (11) 975 IN South Shore Line South Bend, IN–Chicago, IL 1989 x Single 180 MA MBTA Boston, MA 1964 x Multiple (14) 776 MD MARC Martinsburg, WV–Frederick, MD– Perryville, MD–Baltimore, MD– Washington, D.C. 1983 x Three 400 MN Northstar St. Cloud–Minneapolis, MN 2009 x Single 78 NJ NJ TRANSIT New Jersey–New York City 1983 x Multiple (8) 1,002 NM Rail Runner Albuquerque–Santa Fe, NM 2006 x Single 193 NY LIRR New York City–Long Island, NY 1966 x Multiple (11) 638 NY Metro-North New York City–North and East NY 1983 x Multiple (5) 546 NY PATH New York City–New Jersey 1962 x Multiple (4) 29 OR WES Wilsonville–Beaverton, OR 2009 x Single 29 PA SEPTA Philadelphia, PA 1983 x Multiple (13) 447 TN Music City Star Nashville, TN 2006 x Single 63 TX A-train Denton County, TX 2011 x Single 43 TX MetroRail Austin, TX 2010 x Single 64 TX TRE Dallas–Fort Worth, TX 1996 x Single 72 UT FrontRunner Ogden–Salt Lake City–Provo, UT 2008 x Single 175 VA VRE Northern VA–Washington, D.C. 1992 x Two 174 WA Sounder Lakewood–Seattle–Everett, WA 2000 x Single 164 CANADA BC WCE Vancouver, BC 1995 x Single 42 ON GO Transit Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, ON 1967 x Multiple (7) 283 QC RTM Montreal, QC 1982 x Multiple (6) 158 Note: Maps throughout the profiles were created using ArcGIS® software by Esri. ArcGIS® and ArcMap™ are the intellectual property of Esri and are used herein under license. Copyright © Esri. All rights reserved.