Caltrain is a commuter rail transit system that serves the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley in the U.S. state of California. It is operated under contract by TransitAmerica Services and funded jointly by the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) through the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB). The system's average mid-weekday ridership is 65,095 as of February 2018. [1] [2]
The original railroad between San Francisco and San Jose (known as the Peninsula Commute) was built by the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road in 1863. [3] [4] In 1870 the railroad was acquired by Southern Pacific. [3] Southern Pacific double tracked the line in 1904. In 1958 the railroad had record ridership, 7.5 million passengers. [5] The popularity of the railroad began to decline and in 1977 Southern Pacific petitioned to the state government to discontinue Peninsula Commute. [3] [4] After months of negotiation, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reached an agreement with the three counties of which the Peninsula Commute ran through to continue rail operation. [3] Under the agreement, the system was renamed Caltrain and operation responsibilities were shared by Caltrans, Southern Pacific and the three counties. [3] The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board was formed in 1987, and it bought the right of way of Caltrain from Southern Pacific in late 1991 for $220 million. [3] [4] [5] The PCJPB formally took over the operation of Caltrain in 1992 and contracted Amtrak to operate the system. In the same year, Caltrain extended to Gilroy. [6] Amtrak's contract with PCJPB was renewed in 2001. [3]
The system has 31 stations. 28 stations are served daily, one (Broadway) is served on weekends and holidays only, one (College Park) is served during Bellarmine College Preparatory's commute times on weekdays only, and one (Stanford) is served on Stanford University's football game days only. San Francisco 4th and King Street is the northern terminus of the system, while Gilroy is the southern terminus. The five southernmost stations—Capitol, Blossom Hill, Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy—are served only on weekdays during commute times, by select trains. [7] Twelve stations are served by the express train service known as Baby Bullet, inaugurated in 2004. [6] Seven stations (Millbrae, [lower-alpha 1] Burlingame, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and San Jose Diridon) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [9]
Of the 31 stations in the system, 27 of them are accessible. The four stations that are not accessible are in order from north to south, 22nd Street, Broadway, Stanford, and College Park. [10] The weekend and holiday-only Broadway station is planned to be completely rebuilt; upon completion, it would be ADA-compliant. [11] The non-accessible Atherton station was closed on December 13, 2020. [12] Of the four non-accessible stations in the system, only 22nd Street sees regular service. A plan to add ADA-compliant ramps to the station is currently being considered. [13]
† | Terminals |
^(no.) | L3/L4/L5 Limited-stop stations [14] [15] |
• | B7 Baby Bullet stops [14] [15] |
Transfer stations with other rail systems | |
Station | Stations with services limited to commute hours, weekends, or special events [7] |
Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act [10] | |
Fare zone [lower-alpha 2] | Mile [lower-alpha 3] | Location | Station | Abb. [lower-alpha 4] | Weekday ridership [lower-alpha 5] | Connections/Notes | Image |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 0.2 | San Francisco | San Francisco•^(3|4|5)† | SFK | 15,427 | Muni Metro: | |
1.9 | 22nd Street•^(4|5) [lower-alpha 6] | TWE | 1,977 | ||||
5.2 | San Francisco / Brisbane | Bayshore | BAY | 247 | |||
9.3 | South San Francisco | South San Francisco | SSF | 468 | |||
11.6 | San Bruno | San Bruno^(4) | SBR | 695 | |||
2 | 13.7 | Millbrae | Millbrae•^(3|4|5) | MIL | 3,340 | BART: R | |
15.2 | Burlingame | Broadway [lower-alpha 7] | BWY | 114 (Sat & Sun) | Weekend and holiday service only. | ||
16.3 | Burlingame^(4) | BUR | 1,104 | ||||
17.9 | San Mateo | San Mateo^(4|5) | SMT | 2,291 | |||
19.1 | Hayward Park | HPK | 583 | ||||
20.3 | Hillsdale•^(3|5) | HIL | 3,229 | ||||
21.9 | Belmont | Belmont^(3) | BEL | 780 | |||
23.2 | San Carlos | San Carlos^(4) | SCS | 1,331 | |||
25.4 | Redwood City | Redwood City•^(3|4|5) | RWC | 4,212 | |||
3 | 28.9 | Menlo Park | Menlo Park^(3|5) | MPK | 1,728 | ||
30.1 | Palo Alto | Palo Alto•^(3|4|5) | PAL | 7,764 | |||
30.8 | Stanford | STF | — | Stanford football game service only. | |||
31.8 | California Avenue^(3) | CAL | 1,693 | ||||
34.1 | Mountain View | San Antonio^(3) | SAT | 943 | |||
36.1 | Mountain View•^(3|4|5) | MVW | 4,810 | VTA light rail: | |||
38.8 | Sunnyvale | Sunnyvale^(3|4|5) | SUN | 3,364 | |||
4 | 40.8 Caltrain | Lawrence^(3) | LAW | 949 | |||
44.7 | Santa Clara | Santa Clara^(4|5) | SCL | 1,097 | Amtrak: Capitol Corridor Altamont Corridor Express | ||
46.3 | San Jose | College Park ^(3|4) [lower-alpha 7] | CPK | 108 | Bellarmine commute times only. | ||
47.5 | San Jose Diridon•^(3|4|5)† | SJD | 4,876 | Amtrak: Capitol Corridor , Coast Starlight Altamont Corridor Express VTA light rail: | |||
49.1 | Tamien^(3|4|5)† | TAM | 1,286 | VTA light rail: | |||
5 | 52.4 UPRR | Capitol ^(3|4) | CAP | 78 | Weekday peek-commute times only. | ||
55.7 UPRR | Blossom Hill ^(3|4) | BHL | 146 | Weekday peek-commute times only | |||
6 | 67.5 UPRR | Morgan Hill | Morgan Hill ^(3|4) | MHL | 237 | Weekday peek-commute times only. | |
71.2 UPRR | San Martin | San Martin ^(3|4) | SMR | 87 | Weekday peek-commute times only. | ||
77.4 UPRR | Gilroy | Gilroy †^(3|4) | GIL | 252 | Weekday peek-commute times only. | ||
Legend:
● | All trains stop |
---|---|
▲ | Some trains stop |
Miles | Zone | Station | L1 1xx Local [upper-alpha 1] | L2 2xx Weekend & Modified Local [upper-alpha 2] [upper-alpha 3] | L3 3xx Limited 3 [upper-alpha 4] | L4 4xx Limited 4 [upper-alpha 5] | L5 5xx Limited 5 [upper-alpha 6] | 6xx Modified / Temporary | B7 7xx Baby Bullet [upper-alpha 7] | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
L2 [upper-alpha 8] | L6-A [upper-alpha 9] | L6-B [upper-alpha 10] | L6-C [upper-alpha 11] | |||||||||
0.0 | 1 | San Francisco | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
1.9 | 22nd Street | ● | ● | ▲ [upper-alpha 12] | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ▲ [upper-alpha 12] | |
5.2 | Bayshore | ● | ● | — | — | — | ● | ● | — | — | — | |
9.3 | South San Francisco | ● | ● | ● | — | — | ● | ● | — | — | — | |
11.6 | San Bruno | ● | ● | — | ● | — | ● | ● | — | — | — | |
13.7 | 2 | Millbrae | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● |
15.2 | Broadway [upper-alpha 13] | — | ● | — | — | — | ● | — | — | — | — | |
16.3 | Burlingame | ● | ● | — | ● | — | ● | ● | — | — | — | |
17.9 | San Mateo | ● | ● | — | ● | ● | ● | ● | — | ● | — | |
18.9 | Hayward Park | ● | ● | — | — | — | ● | ● | — | — | — | |
20.3 | Hillsdale | ● | ● | ● | — | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
21.9 | Belmont | ● | ● | ● | — | — | ● | ● | ● | — | — | |
23.2 | San Carlos | ● | ● | — | ● | — | ● | — | ● | ● | — | |
25.4 | Redwood City | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
28.9 | 3 | Menlo Park | ● | ● | ● | — | ● | ● | — | ● | ● | — |
30.1 | Palo Alto | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
30.8 | Stanford [upper-alpha 14] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
31.8 | California Avenue | ● | ● | ● | — | — | ● | — | ● | ● | — | |
34.0 | San Antonio | ● | ● | ● | — | — | ● | — | ● | — | — | |
36.1 | Mountain View | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
38.8 | Sunnyvale | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | — | |
40.8 | 4 | Lawrence | ● | ● | ● | — | — | ● | — | ● | ● | — |
44.3 | Santa Clara | ● | ● | — | ● | ● | ● | — | ● | — | — | |
45.7 | College Park [upper-alpha 15] | ▲ [upper-alpha 16] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 17] | ▲ [upper-alpha 18] | — | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 19] | — | — | |
46.9 | San Jose Diridon | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | |
48.9 | Tamien | ▲ [upper-alpha 20] | ▲ [upper-alpha 21] [upper-alpha 22] | ▲ [upper-alpha 23] | ▲ [upper-alpha 24] | ▲ [upper-alpha 25] | ▲ [upper-alpha 22] | — | ● | — | — | |
52.2 | 5 | Capitol | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 26] | ▲ [upper-alpha 27] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 28] | ▲ [upper-alpha 29] | ▲ [upper-alpha 30] | — | — |
55.5 | Blossom Hill | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 26] | ▲ [upper-alpha 27] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 28] | ▲ [upper-alpha 29] | ▲ [upper-alpha 30] | — | — | |
67.3 | 6 | Morgan Hill | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 26] | ▲ [upper-alpha 27] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 28] | ▲ [upper-alpha 29] | ▲ [upper-alpha 30] | — | — |
71.0 | San Martin | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 26] | ▲ [upper-alpha 27] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 28] | ▲ [upper-alpha 29] | ▲ [upper-alpha 30] | — | — | |
77.2 | Gilroy | — | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 26] | ▲ [upper-alpha 27] | — | ▲ [upper-alpha 28] | ▲ [upper-alpha 29] | ▲ [upper-alpha 30] | — | — | |
Notes
|
Mile [lower-alpha 3] | Station | Closed | Fare zone [lower-alpha 2] | Location | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4.1 | Paul Avenue | 2005 | 1 | San Francisco | Closed due to low ridership. [20] |
8.6 | Butler Road | 1983 | 1 | South San Francisco | |
20.0 | Bay Meadows | 2005 | 2 | San Mateo | Consolidated with Hillsdale station. [21] |
27.8 | Atherton | 2020 | 3 | Atherton | Closed due to low ridership and the hold-out rule. [22] |
34.9 | Castro | 2000 | 3 | Mountain View | Replaced by San Antonio station. [23] |
Caltrain is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley. The southern terminus is in San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far as Gilroy. The northern terminus of the line is in San Francisco at 4th and King Street. Caltrain has 28 regular stops, one limited-service weekday-only stop, one weekend and holiday-only stop (Broadway), and one football-only stop (Stanford). While average weekday ridership in 2019 exceeded 63,000, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been significant: in August 2022, Caltrain had an average weekday ridership of 18,600 passengers.
The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile (270 km) passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two points most trains operate between, San Jose and Sacramento. The route runs roughly parallel to I-880 and I-80. Some limited trips run between Oakland and San Jose. A single daily round trip runs between San Jose and Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Capitol Corridor trains started in 1991.
Millbrae station is an intermodal transit station serving Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and Caltrain, located in Millbrae, California. The station is the terminal station for BART on the San Francisco Peninsula, served by two lines: The Red Line before 9 pm and the Yellow Line during the early morning and evening. It is served by all Caltrain services. The station is also served by SamTrans bus service, Commute.org and Caltrain shuttle buses, and other shuttles.
San Francisco International Airport station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) terminal station located adjacent to Garage G inside the San Francisco International Airport. The elevated station is a transfer point to the AirTrain people mover system at Garage G/BART station.
Palo Alto station is an intermodal transit center in Palo Alto, California. It is served by Caltrain regional rail service, SamTrans and Santa Clara VTA local bus service, Dumbarton Express regional bus service, the Stanford University Marguerite Shuttle, and several local shuttle services. Palo Alto is the second-busiest Caltrain station after San Francisco, averaging 7,764 weekday boardings by a 2018 count. The Caltrain station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Peninsula Subdivision and a nearby bus transfer plaza.
College Park station is a limited-service, weekday-only Caltrain station serving the College Park neighborhood and the Bellarmine College Preparatory school in San Jose, California.
South San Francisco station is a Caltrain station in South San Francisco, California. The station is on the east side of the Bayshore Freeway, east and south of the curved Grand Avenue overpass, and north of where the freeway crosses over the tracks. Downtown South San Francisco is to the west, across the freeway. It previously underwent a substantial modernization and expansion project, completed in January 2022.
San Bruno station is a Caltrain station located in San Bruno, California. The station is located just northeast of downtown San Bruno, above the intersection of San Mateo and San Bruno Avenues, adjacent to Artichoke Joe's Casino.
Broadway station is a Caltrain station in Burlingame, California. Caltrain only serves the stop on weekends and holidays; weekday service is provided by a bus shuttle to nearby Millbrae station.
Gilroy station is a Caltrain station located in Gilroy, California, United States. It is the southernmost terminus of the Caltrain system, and is only served during weekday rush hours in the peak direction, with trains going toward San Francisco in the morning and returning southbound in the evening. The station building was constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1918 and restored in 1998. Future plans call for extended Amtrak Capitol Corridor service, as well as California High-Speed Rail trains, to also stop at Gilroy. The station was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 as Gilroy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.
Atherton station was a Caltrain station in Atherton, California. The station had one side platform and one island platform serving the two tracks of the Peninsula Subdivision, with a concrete and wooden shelter on the west side of the tracks. The station opened by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1866 as Fair Oaks and was renamed Atherton in 1912. Caltrain cut weekday service to the station in 2005 due to low ridership and a hold-out rule that prohibited two trains from being at the station simultaneously. Weekend and holiday service continued until December 19, 2020.
Paul Avenue station was a Caltrain station located in the Bayview neighborhood of San Francisco, California. The lightly used station was closed on August 1, 2005, and the platform and shelter were removed in 2009. A replacement station to the north has been proposed.
Capitol station is a Caltrain station located off Monterey Road near the Capitol Expressway, after which the station is named, in southern San Jose, California. The station is only served during weekday peak hours, with northbound trains in the morning and southbound trains in the evening. Service between San Jose and Gilroy, including Capitol station, was increased to four weekday round trips on September 25, 2023.
Blossom Hill station is a Caltrain station located off Monterey Road near the Blossom Hill Road expressway in San Jose, California. The station is only served during weekday peak hours, with northbound trains in the morning and southbound trains in the evening.
Morgan Hill station is a Caltrain station located in the downtown area of Morgan Hill, California. The station is only served during weekday peak hours, with northbound trains in the morning and southbound trains in the evening.
San Martin station is a Caltrain station located in the downtown area of San Martin, California. The station is only served during weekday peak hours, with northbound trains in the morning and southbound trains in the evening. Service between San Jose and Gilroy, including San Martin station, was increased to four weekday round trips on September 25, 2023.
The Caltrain Express (CTX) project was implemented from 2002 to 2004 and led to the establishment of the Baby Bullet express service, which shortened the transit time between San Francisco and San Jose, and certain stations in between. New locomotives and rolling stock were purchased for dedicated express service, bypassing most stations; quad-track overtake sections were added in two locations along the Peninsula Corridor right-of-way to allow express trains to pass slower local trains that were making all stops; tracks were also upgraded with continuous-welded rail; a centralized traffic control system was added; and crossovers were added every few miles to allow single-tracking trains around disabled trains. Congresswoman Jackie Speier, then serving as a California State Senator, is credited with securing the funding for CTX and one of the new locomotives acquired for the project is named for her as a result. During commute hours, the Baby Bullet is up to 20% faster than driving south from San Francisco to San Jose.
The Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod), sometimes referred to as the Caltrain Electrification Project, was a $2.44 billion project which added a positive train control (PTC) system and electrified the main line of the U.S. commuter railroad Caltrain, which serves cities in the San Francisco Peninsula and Silicon Valley. The electrification included installation of a 25 kV catenary system over the double-tracked line from San Francisco to San Jose, and acquisition of new rolling stock, consisting of Stadler KISS double-decker electric multiple units (EMU). Caltrain is transitioning from its legacy push-pull trains hauled by diesel-electric locomotives, most of which have been in service since 1985.
The Portal, also known as the Downtown Rail Extension (DTX), is a planned second phase of the Salesforce Transit Center. When complete, it will extend the Caltrain Peninsula Corridor commuter rail line from its current northern terminus at 4th and King via a 1.3-mile (2.1 km) tunnel. The new terminus will be near the Financial District and will provide intermodal connections to BART, Muni, Transbay AC Transit buses, and long-distance buses. In addition, the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) plans to use DTX and the Caltrain-owned Peninsula Corridor for service on the CHSRA San Francisco–San Jose segment. Because DTX uses a long tunnel, current diesel locomotives are not suitable and the Caltrain Modernization Program (CalMod), which includes electrification of the line and acquisition of electrified rolling stock, is a prerequisite.
The Monterey County Rail Extension is a planned commuter rail extension that would bring Caltrain passenger service south of its existing Gilroy, California terminus to Salinas in Monterey County, using the existing Coast Line owned by Union Pacific (UPRR). Implementation of the rail extension will occur over three phases, starting from Salinas and moving north. When construction is complete, there will be four trains operated over the extended line per weekday: two northbound trains that depart from Salinas and travel to San Francisco in the morning, and two southbound trains that return to Salinas in the afternoon.