Caltrain "Reinvention" Adds 10 Trains, Faster Trips

Necessity is the mother of a "reinvented" Caltrain, which is making its debut Aug. 1, and 10 new Baby Bullet trains are among the progeny.

Faced with a fiscal crisis that threatened the railroad's very survival, Caltrain has radically changed its commute-service pattern, offering more of the faster trips that have proven successful in luring people out of their cars.

The new schedule takes Caltrain from 88 weekday trains to an all-time high of 96 and will bring the number of popular Baby Bullet trains from 12 to 22.

Five Caltrain stations will become new Bullet stops: San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and Tamien (San Jose). Redwood City also will serve as a transfer point as Caltrain introduces a new way of providing local service during the peak.

The profound changes in Caltrain's commute service pattern were forged in perhaps the most significant financial crisis in the railroad's 142-year history. Earlier this year, Caltrain faced a projected $13.6 million shortfall for the fiscal year which began July 1, which has been addressed in part by a fare increase effective on that date.

Instead of slashing service, Caltrain charted a bold course, increasing the number of Baby Bullet trains and the overall frequency to attract both riders and revenue.

"Instead of cutting a great service to reduce our deficit, we have adjusted to meet the needs of today's commuters," said Caltrain board chair Mike Nevin. "Providing them with a shorter commute will give them more time for themselves."

Yet this major service improvement is being done within an extremely tight budget, the same crews and the same equipment.

To accomplish that, some stations will see less service during the peak in order to allow trains to make more trips between San Francisco and San Jose. Service to three stations - Paul Avenue (San Francisco), Broadway (Burlingame) and Atherton - has been suspended on weekdays, though Caltrain will continue to serve the latter two stations on weekends.

Free shuttles will take riders between the Broadway and Millbrae stations and between Atherton and Redwood City during the weekday peak period, with funding provided by the San Mateo County Transportation Authority.

Baby Bullet trains

The 22 Baby Bullet trains will operate with two separate stop patterns.

Pattern A trains, which have been highly successful since they were introduced in June 2004, will stop at San Jose Diridon, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Hillsdale, Millbrae, 22nd Street (reverse commute only) and San Francisco.

Pattern B trains will stop at Tamien (traditional-peak only), San Jose Diridon, Sunnyvale and Palo Alto (traditional-peak only), Menlo Park (reverse-peak only), Redwood City, San Mateo (traditional peak only), Millbrae, 22nd Street (reverse-commute only) and San Francisco.

Local Service

Instead of making all stops, local trains will become hybrids, making limited stops from San Francisco or San Jose to Redwood City, and then making local stops for the rest of the trip, or vice versa.

Passengers who need to get to intermediate stations will get off the train in Redwood City and board the following one, waiting no more than five minutes to transfer.

Although transferring between trains is new to Caltrain, it is common in rail systems in other parts of the world.

Fewer than four percent of existing riders will need to change trains because of the new service pattern. Caltrain ambassadors will be available on Aug. 1 to assist riders with the transition at Broadway, Redwood City and Atherton.

Although many passengers may welcome the opportunity to take advantage of faster train service, Caltrain officials acknowledge that the new schedule may be less convenient for others. In light of the financial challenges facing the railroad, the alternatives for closing the budget gap were few - and draconian - and the schedule was designed to provide optimal service for the greatest number of riders.

Caltrain's hourly weekend service has been essentially preserved, although the first train on Saturday has been moved, in favor of providing a 9 p.m. train out of San Francisco on Saturday night, and the first two Sunday trains have been eliminated.

Copies of the new schedule are available on Caltrain, at staffed stations or by calling 1.800.660.4287 (TTY only 650.508.6448).

7/22/05