Caltrain honors Nancy Pelosi for delivering funds to power trains
As most Bay Area transit agencies continue to struggle to regain ridership lost during the pandemic, Caltrain is touting numbers they say make them the fastest-growing rail line in the nation. At a Sunday morning ceremony, they unveiled a lasting tribute to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for delivering the funding to power its trains into the future.
Like most public transit, Caltrain was hit hard by the COVID lockdown, but the agency says ridership is now up to 65% of pre-pandemic levels. They said that's the fastest growth in ridership and revenue in the country, and they're pointing to their new electric trains as the reason. And for that, they're thanking Pelosi.
"One of the most important things for us," said Caltrain executive director Michele Bouchard, "is she's been vital in securing financing for this Caltrain electrification project that is driving nation-leading ridership growth, and also other vital and transformational projects."
The electrification project cost $1 billion in federal funding. And at Sunday morning's event at the San Francisco Caltrain station, they said they couldn't have done it without Pelosi's help, something she admitted was probably true.
"When talking about bringing $1 billion and all that, it's really been nice to have been speaker of the house," she said.
Speakers also credited Pelosi with securing ongoing funding for extending Caltrain to the Salesforce Transit Center and providing rescue funds to keep local transit agencies running during the pandemic. So, as a token of appreciation, they unveiled a new name for engine "CA-11." The brand-new electric locomotive will now be known as the Nancy Pelosi train.
"This is pretty exciting," she said. "Of course, it's named for me and I'm proud of that and the rest, but what I'm most proud about is the culmination of so much work over time by so many people in the community."
A lot of people put in work, but Pelosi brought home the money. And those who deal in large public projects know that nothing happens without that.
In his remarks, Caltrain Board Chair Rico Medina said, "When we look back, we say, 'Did we leave things better than we find them today? Did we make a difference along the way? Did we touch people and plant a seed for the future of tomorrow?' Madame Speaker, you have done just that."
You can expect other such tributes as she heads down the tracks to retirement. But for providing the juice to power Caltrain into the future, they say renaming the train means that "Nancy Pelosi" will be traveling the corridor rails for decades to come.