On Thursday morning, the Caltrain board will review for approval the decision to buy a set of these electric trains from Stadler for $551 Million, and construction services for electrification from Balfour Beatty Infrastructure for $697 million.   These decisions are limited pending confirmation the major chunks of funding from High Speed Rail and the federal government later this year. Preliminary commitments of $41 million would start the train car purchase and $108 million would start the construction purchase. 

According to the staff report the state of California is putting up funding for electrification prior to sale of High Speed Rail Proposition 1A bonds – the bonds aren’t expected to be sold until next year at earliest.  See chart below and this link for the electrification funding mix.

By Kabelleger / David Gubler   http://bahnbilder.ch/picture/7847, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14816326

Electrification Funding

Meanwhile, Caltrain is planning to put money down to lease a set of eight used F40 locomotives from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, which has purchased new gear for their commuter rail service.  Some of Caltrain’s locomotives date back to the mid-80s and are at the end of their useful life; and the lease will help keep the trains running until electric service starts in 2020/2021.   According to Wikipedia, the F40 locomotives were manufactured between 1975 and 2000, and a source in an internet forum thinks MBTA’s vintage diesel locomotives date to the 90s.