Sprinter (light rail)
The Sprinter is a DMU-operated light rail line operating between Oceanside and Escondido, California, United States. The service uses the pre-existing Escondido Branch trackage of the San Diego Northern Railroad. Station platforms were constructed for the line's fifteen stations serving the cities of Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido. The line provides service to Palomar College and California State University, San Marcos. Sprinter service operates every 30 minutes and is targeted towards commuters.
The Sprinter is operated by the North County Transit District of Oceanside, the area's public transit agency. The agency also operates the Coaster commuter rail line and the BREEZE Bus routes. At Oceanside Transit Center, the Sprinter connects to three commuter rail lines, as well as to Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner regional rail line.
A 2007 study by the San Diego Association of Governments predicted that the Sprinter would reduce road trips by 5,000 a day. It also predicted over 11,000 riders per day by the end of the first year. Ridership numbers did climb after opening, reaching just under 8,000 people per day as of March 2008. Average weekday ridership for FY2018 was approximately 8,300.
History
The Sprinter is the first passenger train service along the Escondido Branch since the Santa Fe Railroad discontinued passenger service in 1946. Originally built in 1888, the entire line had to be rebuilt to accommodate more traffic and be elevated because the line runs along a river.The funding for Sprinter originated with the TransNet Tax measure passed by San Diego County voters in 1987 to relieve traffic congestion. A third of the tax was dedicated to mass transit. The $477 million project also was funded through a $152 million Full Funding Grant Agreement from the Federal Transit Administration.
NCTD purchased the line in 1992 from the Santa Fe Railroad. Construction started on the line in 2005 and was scheduled for completion in December 2007. The Sprinter was previewed on December 28, 2007, with full revenue service scheduled to begin on January 13, 2008. Opening was delayed due to safety and other concerns, and began on March 9, 2008.
While the DMUs are not much narrower than freight cars, the space for employees hanging at the sides of cars considerably increases the free space required, and gangways were designed into the stations that fold up after end of service to allow the BNSF trains plus employees at their sides to pass through. At the eastbound side of the Escondido Avenue platform, the tracks curve so sharply that a gap existed between the outside edges of the gangway and the side of the DMU. The California Public Utilities Commission stated that such a gap is unsafe, and as a result, the Eastbound platform at Escondido Avenue was not used for six months after the opening of the Sprinter. On September 12, 2008, the station was completed and on September 15, 2008, the station became operational.
Sprinter was the least expensive rail project per mile of 10 rail projects built or planned in California in 2005. American Public Works Association awarded Sprinter the Transportation Project of the Year for projects valued over $75 million.
Service
The Sprinter runs every 30 minutes in both directions seven days a week, from approximately 4 am to 9 pm. Trains run later on Friday and Saturday evenings, to approximately 10:30pm, and to approximately 11:30pm. Saturday/Sunday/Holiday trains operate every 30 minutes between 10 am and 6 pm and hourly before 10 am and after 6 pm.Stations
The Sprinter serves a total of 15 stations, including the two termini at Oceanside and Escondido. Three of these stations are transit centers – the two termini, Oceanside Transit Center and Escondido Transit Center, along with the Vista Transit Center station.Due to its shared right-of-way with freight trains serving businesses in Escondido, the Sprinter platforms had to be set back from the tracks a sufficient distance to provide enough room for employees riding on the sides of freight cars.
| Location | Station | Connections |
| Oceanside | Oceanside Transit Center | Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner North County Transit District: Coaster Metrolink: Orange County Line, Inland Empire-Orange County Line NCTD Breeze: 101, 302, 303, 313, 318, 392, 395 Riverside Transit Agency: 202 |
| Oceanside | ||
| Oceanside | NCTD Breeze: 318 | |
| Oceanside | NCTD Breeze: 309 | |
| Oceanside | NCTD Breeze: 311, 318, 323 | |
| Oceanside | NCTD Breeze: 315, 318, 323, 325 | |
| Oceanside | NCTD Breeze: 318 | |
| Vista | Vista Transit Center | NCTD Breeze: |
| Vista | ||
| Vista | NCTD Breeze: 305, 332 | |
| San Marcos | NCTD Breeze: 304, 305, 347, 445 | |
| San Marcos | NCTD Breeze: 305 | |
| San Marcos | NCTD Breeze: 347 | |
| Escondido | NCTD Breeze: 305, 353 | |
| Escondido | Escondido Transit Center | NCTD Breeze: 305, 308, Rapid 350, 351, 352, 353, 354, 355, 356, 357, 358, 359, FLEX 371, 388 Metropolitan Transit System: Rapid 235, Rapid Express 280 RTA: 217 |
Fares
A one-way fare on the Sprinter costs $2.50 per rider, $1.25 for Senior /Disabled/Medicare riders.In addition, riders can buy 'passes' which allow for unlimited travel not only on the Sprinter, but on other NCTD and MTS systems, such as the San Diego Trolley, and Breeze and MTS buses, for the duration of that pass. Rides on those systems, plus the Coaster commuter rail, and express buses, requires a "RegionPlus" pass.
Compass Card
In September 2008, SANDAG introduced a new contactless "Compass Card", made possible by Cubic Transportation Systems, Inc.. The "Compass Card" allows passengers from MTS and NCTD to store regional transit passes and cash value on a rewriteable RFID card. Customers can purchase passes and add cash value on the Internet or at any ticket vending machine. When a customer boards a bus that customer simply taps the Compass Card on the "Validator", usually located near or on the farebox. The LED display then lights resembling those of a stoplight, and the LCD display then shows text regarding the passenger's fare account. When boarding rail vehicles the Validators are located on the platform, and the same process is performed to board the train.Ridership
While pre-opening studies of the Sprinter line projected an average weekday ridership of 11,000, average weekday ridership in 2012 was 7,800, 70% of the original projected daily ridership. For 2012, this corresponded to 2.4 million annual ridership. However, the average weekday ridership for the Sprinter in the first quarter of 2013 was 8,500 according to the American Public Transportation Association Transit Ridership Report for Q1 2013, which is 77% of the original projected daily ridership for the system.Rolling stock
Sprinter service is operated with Desiro-class diesel multiple units manufactured by Siemens in Germany and widely used by main-line regional railways. Twelve married pairs of Siemens VT642 Desiro DMUs were delivered to the Escondido Transit Center in August 2006. The vehicles were in acceptance testing in California during the early part of 2007. The passenger trains are not FRA-compliant for operation in association with freight trains; therefore freight operations on the route are not permitted during passenger operations. For this reason some publications, including the American Public Transportation Association, refer to this line as light rail but it does not conform with the usual understanding of that term.Future service plans
Being a relatively new transit service, future development plans for the Sprinter are currently focused on increasing the frequency of the service to 20 minutes per train departure, from the Sprinter's current 30-minute schedule. An increased schedule will require more double-tracking of the Sprinter rail line as currently only 9.6 miles of the Sprinter's rail line is double-tracked. The preferred alternative project for more double-tracking on the rail line involves increased double-tracking around Crouch St. station through College Blvd. station, and around Palomar College station through Nordahl Rd. station. It is projected that this project will require six years to reach completion.Additionally, NCTD would like to implement Sprinter Express train service that would stop at only the five stations with the greatest ridership along the route. The Express service would use freight track east of San Marcos Civic Center station to bypass a station and an eastern portion of the regular route in order to further reduce travel times between termini.
Longer-term, SANDAG's 2050 Regional Transportation Plan projects one extension of the Sprinter by 2050. The extension would be from the Sprinter's current eastern terminus at the Escondido Transit Center, south to the Escondido Westfield Mall/Del Lago Transit Center. No other extensions of the Sprinter are included in the plan.
Criticism
The Sprinter has encountered some dissatisfaction in northern San Diego County. For example, business owners in Oceanside have attributed flooding in November 2007 and January 2008 to the Sprinter, since its construction raised railroad beds and narrowed creeks. Some have also criticized the limited schedule. In response to the limited schedule, NCTD expanded Friday and Saturday Night service in 2011, the last trips leaving out of Escondido at 10:33pm and out of Oceanside at 11:33pm.Incidents
Accidents
On March 11, 2008, just two days after the first passengers were carried, a westbound Sprinter train struck a man who was lying on the tracks under a State Route 78 bridge in San Marcos. It was not immediately clear if the man was aware of the approach of the train. However, the man, who was covered by a sleeping bag at the time he was struck, spoke of suicide while in the emergency room.On March 23, 2012, a man was struck by a westbound Sprinter train at the West Mission Road and North Pacific Street crossing. The victim's death was ruled a suicide by the San Diego County medical examiner's office. The operator of the train applied the brakes and sounded the horn, but was unable to avoid the collision. The victim died at the scene.