OCEANSIDE — The North County Transit District is pursuing a replacement of its Sprinter rail fleet servicing Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido following an increase in mechanical failures and maintenance challenges.
The Sprinter fleet replacement is one of several high-priority capital improvement projects for which NCTD is seeking grant funding in 2025. Replacement of the vehicles alone will cost around $264 million, and necessary upgrades to the platforms and the operations and maintenance facility will cost an additional $87 million.
NCTD obtained the Siemens Desiro diesel multiple units as a “one-off boutique system” that is widely used in the United Kingdom but not seen anywhere else in the United States. Due to various maintenance challenges, only five of the 12 vehicles are currently able to run, with NCTD often sourcing needed parts from other Sprinter vehicles.
Mechanical failures for the Sprinter spiked dramatically in 2024 compared to previous years, with 282 documented failures last year.
“Because the Sprinter is a one-of-a-kind vehicle, we’re facing challenges sourcing some of the parts. What we’ve been able to do is utilize existing resources on some of the other vehicles, to make sure that we have enough to maintain the service and that we have a spare vehicle in case there is mechanical failure there,” NCTD Chief of Staff Mary Dover said at the district board’s Feb. 20 meeting.
The fleet is halfway through its advertised 30-year lifetime but cannot wait much longer to be replaced. NCTD CEO Shawn Donaghy said the agency initially planned to replace the fleet in 2035 but is now aiming for as early as 2028 or 2030.
“There is a grave need to replace that fleet,” Donaghy said. “That [maintenance] crew is doing a great job over there, keeping the equipment the best they can on the track, but we really need to escalate our time frame on getting new vehicles in here to really focus our energy on getting rid of the old ones.”
Fleet replacement would also require adjustments to the Sprinter platforms, which are built to accommodate the unique shape and size of the current vehicles.
NCTD has requested $3.2 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) grant program to replace the fleet. The funds will be awarded in the summer.
The agency also plans to double-track 9.5 miles of the Sprinter route as part of the Sprinter Corridor Service Improvement Project to increase service frequency from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
This project’s first phase will involve upgrading railroad signals and other obsolete infrastructure along the corridor, followed by four separate phases of double tracking.
NCTD received $10.2 million in federal funding last year to upgrade signals in Oceanside and begin preliminary engineering and environmental work for double-tracking on the eastern portion of the corridor between San Marcos and Escondido.
“The Sprinter corridor, to me, is the most important railroad corridor we have in our network. If we could double track that line and get cars on there that could run 15-min service, I think it could be one of the single most successful rail lines in the state of California,” Donaghy said.
Other 2025 priority projects in North County are the Camp Pendleton–San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Double Track and Bridge Replacement Project, which will replace bridges along the corridor and add 1.5 miles of double tracking, and the Buena Creek Grade Separation project, which will eliminate the at-grade Sprinter crossing in the Buena Creek area near Vista.
NCTD and SANDAG are also preparing to begin construction on the San Dieguito Double Tracking and Special Events Platform project, which will add 2.1 miles of double tracking between Solana Beach and Del Mar, replace the century-old rail bridge across the San Dieguito Lagoon and add a new rail platform at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Construction is expected to begin in early 2026 and finish in 2030.
Expanding microtransit in Vista
At the same meeting, the NCTD Board also discussed expanding the NCTD+ microtransit program and discontinuing two Breeze bus routes.
Last summer, the district launched its first NCTD+ program in San Marcos, with an on-demand microtransit serving a 10-mile city zone. The program has seen success, with around 100 weekly riders and one-way trips lowered from $5 to $3.
In May, a second microtransit program will launch in Vista, servicing the Vista Transit Center, Moonlight Amphitheatre, the North County Courthouse and shopping centers like the Vista Terrace Marketplace and Stater Bros on North Santa Fe Avenue.
NCTD has proposed cutting the Breeze 334 one-way circulator route to avoid service duplication and unnecessary spending, as the NCTD+ service area will encompass the route.
“Breeze Route 334 is not considered underperforming, however, constrained resources require NCTD to limit duplicative services where possible,” a staff report states.
NCTD board member and Vista City Councilmember Corinna Contreras expressed concern about cutting the route without knowing how the NCTD+ program will be funded going forward.
“Is it fair to say that the elimination of the 334 is going to help sustain NCTD+? Is that the actual goal? Because I can get behind that, but if you’re telling me we’re eliminating this just to have a 12-month pilot and there’s gonna be a gap in the service, I can’t be behind that,” Contreras said.
Donaghy said the district is committed to funding the NCTD+ Vista program beyond the initial 12-month term and noted that the term “pilot” is mostly used for reporting purposes.
He added that the agency applied for funding through SANDAG’s Access for All program for microtransit in Vista and Fallbrook, but was unsuccessful. NCTD plans to apply for funding through the SANDAG Flexible Fleets program later this year.
“I was extremely disappointed, but I was not surprised,” Donaghy said of not receiving the Access for All funds. “I find that SANDAG has continued to fund things that are on their agenda that I think are far less effective than NCTD+.”
The district also plans to cut the Breeze 444 route servicing the Carlsbad Poinsettia Coaster station due to poor performance, with about 20 average weekday boardings in 2024.
The board will hold public hearings regarding eliminating these routes in March.
