Caltrain has gone broke and will likely need to wipe out half its service including weekend, nighttime and midday trains officials warned, bracing passengers for a major shake-up to the popular commuter line that links San Francisco to the South Bay, reports the San Jose Mercury News.
Caltrain is operated by Amtrak under contract.
"This is not an April fool's joke,'' Caltrain CEO Mike Scanlon told the agency's board of directors. "This is real. We're at a watershed moment where there's a possibility this railroad could go away."
Scanlon said the service cuts, which would idle trains for much of the day, would need to be completed by June 2011, although the agency may begin slashing its schedule as soon as this fall.
The train line is falling victim to a combination of declining revenues from state and local agencies and falling ridership.
While officials expect a passionate outcry from riders who depend on Caltrain, they insisted the dire warnings aren't a ploy to justify more fee increases or tax hikes.
The cuts would affect 18,211 average weekend riders, 5,718 midday riders and 2,082 nighttime riders, officials said.
Caltrain's board, needing to slice about $30 million from its $97 million budget, will vote on specific proposals at a future meeting after holding public hearings.
Caltrain officials said the service cuts will further jam traffic on roadways. The majority of Caltrain's 40,000 daily passengers ride during commute times, and much of that service may remain untouched because it is the most profitable.
(The preceding article was published by the San Jose Mercury News.)