If commute rail service begins in late 2015 as planned, it will be the first North Bay passenger service in six decades and the fastest.
"This will be a challenging railroad to run," said Tom Madoff, the acting operations director for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District. "There will be massive trains heading towards each other at 79 miles per hour, faster than it has ever been operated before. Even when there was passenger service, it was 50 to 55 miles per hour."
Passenger service through Sonoma and Marin counties existed from the 1870s through the 1950s, when the last line linking San Rafael to Eureka and running through Sonoma County was closed by Northwest Pacific Railroad.
Madoff on Friday outlined how train service would operate, with computers controlling the signals, switches and communications to run five two-car trains at 30-minute intervals on a single track that will require passing on strategically placed sidings.
A separate system, using GPS to track trains, will be able to override the computer when necessary, making sure trains obey stop signals and slow down on some sections of track.
"The Sacramento light rail system was 60 percent single-track when it opened and because the sidings were properly placed, they were able to run at 15-minute headways," Madoff said. "They were better at being on time than BART."
Madoff was one of several SMART planners to speak at a special all-day workshop for the SMART board, which also recapped the history of SMART and the construction work that is about to get under way.
The session was meant particularly for the four new board members from Marin County, representing a substantial turnover on the 12-member board.
San Rafael Mayor Gary Phillips and Novato City Councilman Eric Lucan have just joined the board, and Marin County Supervisor Kathrin Sears and and Mill Valley Councilwoman Stephanie Moulton-Peters joined in the past few months.
The workshop was held at The Lodge in Sonoma at a cost of about $4,000.
You can reach Staff Writer Bob Norberg at 521-5206 or bob.norberg@pressdemocrat.com.
UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy: