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The Sprinter (styled in caps as SPRINTER) is a DMU-operated light rail〔Trains, Sprinter reaches the finish line, June 2008, p. 28: "North County Transit District's 22-mile Sprinter diesel light rail line"〕 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 (western terminus), Vista, San Marcos, and Escondido (eastern terminus). 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. Sprinter service is operated with Desiro-class diesel multiple units (DMU) manufactured by Siemens in Germany, where they are 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. At Oceanside Transit Center, the Sprinter connects to three commuter rail lines (the Coaster, the Metrolink Orange County Line, and the Metrolink Inland Empire-Orange County Line), as well as to Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner regional rail line. A 2007 study by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) predicted that the Sprinter would reduce road trips by 5,000 a day (a round trip by car would be two road trips). It also predicted over 11,000 riders (trips) 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 2012 was approximately 7,800.〔 ==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 (Proposition C) 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 of the Sprinter was delayed due to safety and other concerns. Service began on March 9, 2008.〔 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. The passenger trains are not FRA-compliant for operation in association with freight trains and therefore freight operations on the route are not permitted during passenger operations. For this reason some publications refer to this line as light rail but it does not conform with the usual understanding of that term. 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 station 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 exists between the outside edges of the gangway and the side of the DMU. The California Public Utilities Commission has 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 (APWA) awarded Sprinter the Transportation Project of the Year for projects valued over $75 million.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sprinter (light rail)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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