City Councilmember Zach Hilton recently wrote in a letter to the editor that the commuter rail service Caltrain should “pause” their service out of Gilroy (Dispatch, June 13, 2025). I feel that this action would be taking a step backward and do more harm than good.
In my opinion, Caltrain should adjust their schedule as to when trains depart Gilroy in the mornings. The hours that it departs are not conducive for commuters going to San Jose and Silicon Valley. It conflicts with the time people need to start work.
The City of Gilroy, Caltrain and the VTA should work with the Union Pacific Railroad, who owns the rail line between Gilroy and San Jose, to work around the timing of the one conflicting northbound freight train each weekday.
Passenger rail service needs to advance and increase in our area, not be paused as Mr. Hilton advocates.
Gary V. Plomp
Gilroy
Don’t suspend CalTrain service in the South Valley, but set the fares to cover all operating costs through passenger fares. It is only fair: Put those who prefer to commute by train on an equal footing with those who prefer to commute by car.
Hilton is out of his mind. Who’s lining his pockets? This agenda of making life miserable for workers has to end. He also wants to tax us for using 101 during commuter hours. Where do most south county folks work? At all the local smoke shops, storage units, Starbucks, etc? We are the backbone of Silicon Valley who travel to where the jobs are. We need OPPORTUNITIES for public transportation, not LIMITATIONS!
I’ve seen the Caltrain South County ridership numbers (Monday-Friday 4 Trains North in morning and 4 Trains South in evening) Gilroy 112 riders/day, San Martin 28 riders/day, Morgan Hill 137 riders/day, Blossom Hill 79 riders/day, Capitol 57 riders/day. These five stations south of Tamien are not electrified. When you get to San Jose Diridon Caltrain you get off and have to tranfer to an electric train. South County Caltrain service doesn’t have the impact needed to relieve congestion on U.S. Route 101 today or historically.
The most current May 2025 ridership of South County Caltrain is 413 riders/day for the cost of $15,000,000/year. It is not fiscally responsible to continue when they aren’t serving the current commute travel patterns and while VTA is facing a fiscally constrained FY26 and FY27 Transit Operating Budget. Caltrain is heading into a deficit for FY27 too.
The cost to run South County Caltrain service starts at $15,000,000. More trains or increased frequency will increase that cost. There are no grants that would be beneficial in funding this current level of service and ridership. Caltrain is currently using Federal Tax funds to operate South County Caltrain and that is about to run out. Those funds could be better on service that meets the needs for mass transit. Gilroy isn’t the starting point for traffic any longer. San Benito County and Monterey County drivers contribute to it now as well.