Quote:
Originally Posted by Pedestrian
BART and Caltrain are different gauges. Back in the day, BART chose a wide gauge--wider than intercity rail (AMTRAK etc)--so BART trains couldn't run on CalTrain tracks and vice versa.
|
I don't know if that was the main reason. I always thought it had to do with the original plan to build the Marin line on the Golden Gate Bridge, and engineers thought the wider gauge would do better in the strong winds there. Perhaps though that would have also been a convenient reason to want to take over the Caltrain/Southern Pacific ROW as BART was obligated at the time to build a line down to Palo Alto.