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Commuters On Board With VTA's New Trains

SAN JOSE (KCBS) - The Monday morning commute got off to an especially good start for Valley Transportation Authority riders, after the transit agency debuted a fleet of faster light rail trains.

VTA launched the Commuter Express trains in response to passenger requests to shave time from the sometimes sluggish service.

KCBS Matt Bigler Reporting:

Commuters have long complained that VTA's light rail system was simply too slow. For instance, a 12 mile trip along Hwy. 87 clocked in at 43 minutes by train, compared to a 22 minute car ride.

Now, for the first time in its 23 year history, the VTA overhauled its system to speed up light rail service.

"The whole purpose is to try to reduce the travel time, try to make the system more attractive to people," explained VTA general manager Michael Burns. "Try to make it more competitive with driving."

The brightly painted orange and blue express trains were designed to shave precious minutes from what could be a grueling commute.

"You know, this has been one of the factors that people have talked about with our system, that it can be a little bit slow because the trains stop at every station," Burns acknowledged.

Riders embraced the new service.

"I was very happy that they came up with the ideas," declared one of the early passengers to board a new express train. "It certainly will save time and I look forward to being one of the first."

Speed wasn't the only perk of the new service. VTA added free WiFi to the express trains, as well.

"Yeah, that's one of the reasons I want to grab the thing. A nice addition and I look forward to that. Laptop, check my e-mail on my way to work," he explained of his new routine.

The Commuter Express line was slated to run from south San Jose through downtown up to the northern part of the city.

Three northbound express trains were scheduled to leave the Santa Teresa Station each weekday at 7:16 a.m., 7:46 a.m. and 8:16 a.m. Three southbound express trains were to leave the Baypointe Station at 4:07 p.m., 4:37 p.m. and 5:07 p.m.

The trains were scheduled to make all stops between Santa Teresa and Ohlone/Chynoweth, then operate non-stop to the Convention Center. From there, trains would make all stops until reaching the Baypointe station.

For more information on the new Commuter Express trains, riders were encouraged to call VTA Customer Service at (408) 321-2300 or visit the authority's website at www.vta.org.

(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)

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