What is Caltrain?

Caltrain is a commuter-rail service that runs between San Francisco (California, USA) and San Jose (California, USA), with many stops in between at various Silicon Valley towns, and a service extension south from San Jose to Gilroy.

Many international travelers, especially European tourists on a budget, use Caltrain as part of their strategy for visiting the Bay Area without a rental car (a feat you should not attempt in California's other main metropolitan area). Many local residents use Caltrain for their daily commute.

Caltrain is a great train system with some notable flaws. This article does not attempt to duplicate the schedule and fare information available from Caltrain's Web site. Instead, it gives tips about how to have the best possible experience on Caltrain.

Advice for travelers

Backpacking European tourists are a frequent sight aboard Caltrain. San Francisco's airport is ten miles from downtown San Francisco, and Caltrain offers a free shuttle service betwen San Francisco International Airport and the nearest Caltrain stop (Millbrae). Thus Caltrain is an appealing option for tourists who wish to get to San Francisco without a car. (San Jose International Airport is comparatively closer to downtown San Jose, but tourist opportunities in that area are modest.)

Here is a list of facts travelers should know when using Caltrain as a car substitute for a visit to the Bay area:

• Caltrain's northern terminus is in San Francisco at Fourth and King Streets. The immediate area's only major attraction is the San Francisco Giants' baseball stadium. Common tourist destinations are not within walking distance. Plan on transferring to San Francisco's municipal bus and streetcar system, or ask your hotel to pick you up at the station. Say specifically that you will be at the Fourth and King Caltrain station.
• As of this writing (August 2000) there is no link between Caltrain and BART, the Bay area's more glamorous transit system. (A linkage is being built at Millbrae.) To get from Caltrain to BART destinations such as Berkeley, take Caltrain to Fourth and King, exit the station and cross Fourth Street, and take San Francisco municipal bus #15 north to Market Street. BART's Montgomery Street station will be a block away along Market street to your right (east).
• Some trains are express trains, which do not make all stops. A few express trains skip Millbrae, the San Francisco airport stop!¹ See the tips below about how to make sure you are on board the right train.
• As a general rule, Caltrain conductors speak only English. Be prepared to tell the conductor, in English, where you boarded the train, what your destination stop is, and whether you would like a one-way or a round-trip ticket. The conductor will reply with the amount of your fare.
• Caltrain is not a 24-hour service. If your flight arrives at the airport after the last Caltrain of the night, you will need to make alternate arrangements for getting to your destination, such as paying for a taxi.
• Caltrain's route through Silicon Valley stops near many city centers, including Palo Alto's. Nevertheless, the Valley is very suburban, so do not assume that your final destination is within walking distance of Caltrain. Check a map first.

Caltrain's schedule and timeliness

The earliest trains depart during the 5:00 a.m. hour, and the day's final trains depart between midnight and 1:00 a.m. During commute times, trains are roughly 15-30 minutes apart; outside commute times, they are one hour apart. See Caltrain's Web site for a very nice interactive schedule.

Caltrain's on-time performance is not excellent. Be prepared for trains to arrive late at your destination. Here are some tips for predicting delays.

• Delays develop in transit; trains tend to depart their points of origin on time. This means that a southbound train will probably arrive at Millbrae within ten minutes of its posted time, but a northbound train during the evening commute (which would have started in San Jose) could be 15-30 minutes late.
• Sometimes trains are so late that they begin to arrive at stations close to the times when the train behind them should be arriving instead. This frequently leads to confusion between express trains and those that make all stops. See the suggestions below on how to make sure you are on the right train.
• Floods of extra passengers ride Caltrain on days when the San Francisco Giants play home baseball games. Caltrain adds additional trains on these days, but travelers should still plan on delays.
• Pedestrians die in front of Caltrains, whether by suicide or by accident, with distressing frequency. Whenever a fatality occurs, delays of an hour or so result. It is very unlikely that you will be on a train that kills someone: during the first half of 2000, assuming that you rode a train for its entire length, your odds would have been about 1 in 900.² But you would be well advised to have a plan in the event of a significant delay for any reason. For instance, know a phone number at your destination so that you can call if you are delayed. If you are traveling to an airport, plan to arrive at the airport well ahead of your flight departure time.

Getting on the right train

Each Caltrain is numbered. Northbound trains have odd numbers, and southbound trains have even numbers. These numbers are displayed on small black-on-white flags at the front of the train, near the top side windows. (If a train has no numbers, it is a special train; you will need to ask a conductor about where and when it stops.)

Use these numbers to make sure that the train you board will stop at your destination. Do not rely on the conductors to warn you that a train does not make all stops. Compare the number on the front of the train to the schedule.

Note that Caltrain schedules list weekday trains with two-digit numbers and weekend trains with three-digit numbers. The trains themselves will only display the last two digits of their train number regardless.

Physically boarding the train

Boarding a Caltrain requires climbing three steep stairs. If you use a wheelchair, go to your departure platform's "Boarding Assistance Area": a blue square painted on the floor and bearing those words. Wait for the train in this square. Conductors will help you get on board.

Conductors will also assist anyone who finds the stairs difficult. Elderly persons, as well as anyone who uses crutches or otherwise has limited mobility, would be well advised to wait in the blue square at least for their first attempt to use Caltrain.

Paying for your ride

At the time of this writing, most stations have an automated ticket vending machine, but many of these new machines have not been activated yet. If the machine at your station is not yet in service, or if you do not have time to use it, just board the train and have a seat, even if you do not already have a ticket or pass. A conductor will come around and ask where you boarded the train, what your destination stop is, and whether you would like a one-way or a round-trip ticket. Payment is in cash.

Note that you will be charged a $1.00 surcharge if you board the train from a station with a working ticket machine without using it to buy your ticket. You'll also pay the surcharge if you board the train from a station with a staffed ticket window without using it.

The ticket vending machines have a reasonably straightforward interface. They accept coins and bills. Caveats about ticket vending machines:

• Although the ticket vending machines say that they accept credit cards and ATM debit cards, in practice this does not work very well yet. Be prepared to pay cash.
• You can only put money into the machines after you've used the on-screen menus to say what kind of ticket you want. At other times, the coin slot is blocked shut and the bill acceptor is off. This behavior sometimes causes people to assume, wrongly, that the machines are broken.
• The machines give the new Sacagawea $1 coins as change, and accept them for payment. Some people find these coins surprising.

You can buy pre-paid tickets and passes, but only in advance, and only at a staffed station. Note that many Silicon Valley stations are only staffed during commute hours!

Bicycles on Caltrain

Space permitting, you can bring a bicycle onto Caltrain. Only certain cars accomodate bicycles; each northernmost car is a bicycle car, and some trains have a second car somewhere closer to the southernmost end. This means that bicyclists should be prepared to zoom south in the event that (a) the regular bike car is full, and (b) this train happens to have a second bike car.

Unfortunately, if there is no room for your bike, you and the bike can be denied boarding. This will mean a wait of up to an hour for the next train. There is also no guarantee that the next train will be able to accomodate your bike. Here are some tips aimed at avoiding being bumped.

• Avoid trying to bring a bike on board during commute hours. Travel earlier or later.
• Most stations have bike lockers. Regular commuters might consider renting a bike locker both at their starting point and at their destination, and buying two cheap bikes instead of one expensive one.
• Bicycles are available for rental at the Palo Alto station.

Your odds of being bumped on a weekend train are very low, since bicycle use is light then.