Dan has ridden the Gold Line to Mather Field/Mills Station or Sunrise Station nearly every day for the last two weeks, sometimes more than once per day, so we will provide an update on the new Siemens S700 low-floor rail cars and service on the Gold Line.

Ramp Deployment: There seem to be many fewer instances of ramps failing to deploy. Trains are still being delayed by slow deployment, particularly when a passenger presses the regular door button before another passenger presses the ramp button. The doors have to first close, then the ramp deploys, then the doors open again, taking time and delaying the trains.

Digital Signage: Each car has a digital display at both ends of the car, near the steps, which indicates the next stop as well as other information. Several times the signs have been blank at certain stops. The announcement has still been made, but the sign is blank. In other instances, the sign displays the incorrect station, which is worse than no display at all. The digital destination signs, visible from outside the rail cars, don’t always indicate the correct destination. For trains going towards Historic Folsom, the signs all say Historic Folsom, even though many trains are being turned back at Sunrise. The signage is also inconsistent for the Sacramento Valley Station destination. The sign may say downtown, meaning 8th & H Station, or it may say Sacramento Valley Station. However, some trains that say SVS are stopping short, and some that say downtown are going all the way to SVS. Noted this morning, a northbound Blue Line train displayed Alkali Station, since a bus bridge is skipping over the stations with platform construction. So it is possible to have the signs correct indicate the destination.

Bicycles: Several Gold Line trains, both single car and two car, have been packed with bicycles and mobility devices, to the point where both disabled people and regular passengers are complaining to bicyclists. The complaints are reasonable, but should be directed at SacRT, which made the decision to purchase smaller rail cars (Siemens calls these Ultra Short, or US). These cars don’t really have space for bicycles at all, and have no bicycle racks or hangers. There are four spots on each car that could have bike hangers with the removal of single seats, but hung bicycles stick somewhat into the aisles, and many bicyclists do not have the upper body strength to lift bicycles to hangers. SacRT is running single car trains at many times of day when there is a heavy load of regular passengers, disabled passengers or others wanting to use the ramps, and bicyclists. Apparently SacRT is not observing passenger loads to determine when to run two cars, or when one is acceptable.

Low-floor on Green Line: Old high-floor rail cars are still being used at times on the Gold Line, yet new low-floor cars are being used on the Green Line. This makes no sense. Why use the new cars on a low ridership line, when a high ridership line needs the cars? This may in part explain why single car trains are running on the Gold Line when there should be two car trains.

Folsom Service Issues: Some trains are still being terminated at Sunrise Station. At times a bus bridge is being provided, but most of the time a bus bridge is not. It is unknown what the criteria for establishing and canceling a bus bridge is. In most cases, passengers must exit the train at Sunrise Station, and wait for the next train to Historic Folsom Station. This results in 30-minute frequency, which was the case before SacRT closed down the Sunrise to Historic Folsom section for more than a year to build a short (too-short) passing track at Glenn/Robert G Holderness Station.

• SacRT light rail modernization