Dozens of Caltrain’s older generation diesel passenger cars have been moved to a North Bay storage yard to make way for the agency’s new electrified fleet. 

During this past weekend, Caltrain moved 32 of the old Nippon Sharyo passenger cars from its San Jose and San Francisco rail yards to a Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit storage facility in Petaluma. 

The retired cars debuted in 1985 and were just taken out of service last year. 

Their departure helps clear space for Caltrain’s new electrification project, in which the agency will operate 23 train sets of seven cars apiece starting this fall, said Caltrain spokesman Dan Lieberman. 

Caltrain provides rail service from San Francisco to San Jose, with a commute service to Gilroy.

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.