Gilroy
– South County students who take Caltrain to Bellarmine College
Preparatory won a reprieve Friday when the agency decided to keep
the historic College Park station open. The directors also agreed
to cut one round-trip a day from Gilroy service.
Gilroy – South County students who take Caltrain to Bellarmine College Preparatory won a reprieve Friday when the agency decided to keep the historic College Park station open. The directors also agreed to cut one round-trip a day from Gilroy service.
The College Park station was one of four expected to be closed this week by the Caltrain board of directors. But after an impassioned protest by many of the 300 Bellarmine students and administrators who use the station, the directors decided to continue limited service there, with four daily trains rather than the current 12.
In Gilroy, beginning July 1, there will be three round trips daily, with the earliest train departing Gilroy at 6:06am. One of the trains will make limited stops.
A 17.5 percent fare increase will boost the daily Gilroy to San Jose commute from $8.50 to $10. Getting to San Francisco and back will cost $19, up from $16.
The changes come as Caltrain is scrambling to close a budget gap of at least $13.6 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The agency also plans to offer several more of the profitable “baby bullet” commuter trains to San Francisco and replace some local service with express trains.
Caltrain wanted to close the College Park station because it would interfere with the express train schedule.
Spokeswoman Jayme Kunz said Friday that the agency was able to work around a limited schedule there and the new system-wide schedule will feature more trains than the current one.
The changes leave Caltrain about $2 million shy of a balanced budget. The agency will try to recoup those funds from its partner transit agencies in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.
Supervisor Don Gage, who is on the board of Caltrain and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said getting money out of cash-strapped local agencies is unlikely.
“We’ve been cutting all along,” Gage of the VTA. “I don’t know how we’re going to make $2 million up. It’s a tough situation, but we’re scratching for everything we can.
My fear is that [with the cuts] ridership is going to go down. I’m concerned about the whole system.”
The three stations that will be closed are Atherton, Broadway in Burlingame and Paul Avenue in San Francisco. Caltrain will run shuttle services at those stations. All changes are effective July 1.
