Caltrain will introduce its much-anticipated Baby Bullet express
service this weekend. The train service will return Saturday, June
5, for the first time since it was suspended in July 2002 to allow
for a $110-million construction project.
Caltrain will introduce its much-anticipated Baby Bullet express service this weekend. The train service will return Saturday, June 5, for the first time since it was suspended in July 2002 to allow for a $110-million construction project.
To celebrate the end of weekend track construction, Caltrain will offer free rides on the first two weekends – June 5, 6, 12 and 13. Regular fares will be in effect the following weekend.
A festival will also be held to welcome back riders on Saturday, June 5 at the San Francisco station, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Caltrain’s new schedule will offer the highest level of service in the railroad’s 141-year history. Passengers can choose from 86 weekday trains, including 10 Baby Bullets, and hour frequency on both Saturdays and Sundays.
That premier commute-hour service will make its debut on Monday, June 7, with five trains each for the morning and evening commute hours, which will serve six Baby Bullet stations including San Francisco, Millbrae, Hillsdale, Palo Alto, Mountain View and San Jose Diridon.
Two southbound morning trains and two northbound evening trains will stop at the 22nd Street station in San Francisco, for the growing ‘reverse commute’ market.
Upgrades during the two-year construction project have raised the maximum operating speed to 79 miles per hour and new passing tracks in Brisbane and Sunnyvale will allow the Bullets to overtake local trains.
This way, the Baby Bullet trains will allow passengers to travel faster with fewer stops.
For example, from the San Francisco to the San Jose terminals, travel time will be cut from an hour-and-a-half on a local train to just 57 minutes on a Baby Bullet.
The trip from San Francisco to Palo Alto will take only 37 minutes, instead of the 62 minutes it takes on a local train.
To operate the new Baby Bullet express service, Caltrain purchased 17 Bi-level passenger cars and six sleek locomotives at a cost of $53 million, which have been in use well over a year.
Cars with low floors and lots of doors were chosen to help speed passenger boarding and reduce travel time. The cars can comfortably accommodate 130 to 142 passengers, and Caltrain has room for 16 bicycles per Baby Bullet. The cars also have one fully accessible restroom each.
The improved service and stations for Caltrain passengers and quieter trains for local residents would not have been possible without the two years of construction.
While inconvenient for passengers, the construction provided bypass tracks, station and signal upgrades and faster, safer service for commuters.
