Caltrain

Caltrain
Cal in black letters, with train inscribed within a red circle, all letters italicized
A red and white electric train at a train station
A train at Millbrae station in 2024
Overview
OwnerPeninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Area servedSanta Clara Valley
San Francisco Peninsula
Transit typeCommuter rail
Number of lines1 line[i]
5 services[ii]
Number of stations31 (list)
Daily ridership24,583 per weekday (June 2024)[1]
Annual ridership5,443,800 (2023)[2]
HeadquartersSan Carlos, California
Websitecaltrain.com
Operation
Began operation1985 (as Caltrain)
1863 (as Peninsula Commute)
Operator(s)Southern Pacific (1870–1992)
Amtrak (1992–2012)
TransitAmerica Services (2012–present)
Reporting marksJPBX
Infrastructure manager(s)Union Pacific (Tamien–Gilroy)
Charactercommuter railroad with level crossings; limited freight service
Number of vehicles29 locomotives and 134 passenger cars (in revenue service)[3]
Train length7 EMU Passenger Cars
Technical
System length77.2 mi (124.2 km)
No. of tracks2+[4]
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
ElectrificationOverhead line25 kV 60 Hz AC (San Francisco to Tamien)[5]
Top speed79 mph (127 km/h)
System map
Map Caltrain highlighted in red
The Portal
planned
enlarge…
0.0 mi
0 km
San Francisco enlarge…
N Judah T Third Street
1.7 mi
2.7 km
22nd Street
under I-280 (1961).svg I-280
Oakdale
proposed
3.9 mi
6.3 km
Paul Avenue
closed
T Third Street (Muni Metro)
5.0 mi
8 km
Bayshore
8.4 mi
13.5 km
Butler Road
closed
9.1 mi
14.6 km
South San Francisco
11.6 mi
18.7 km
San Bruno
Fare zone 1
Fare zone 2
13.5 mi
21.7 km
Millbrae enlarge…
Bay Area Rapid Transit San Francisco International Airport
15.0 mi
24.1 km
Broadway
weekends only
16.1 mi
25.9 km
Burlingame
17.8 mi
28.6 km
San Mateo
18.9 mi
30.4 km
Hayward Park
19.8 mi
31.9 km
Bay Meadows
closed
20.1 mi
32.3 km
Hillsdale
21.7 mi
34.9 km
Belmont
23.0 mi
37 km
San Carlos
25.3 mi
40.7 km
Redwood City
Fare zone 2
Fare zone 3
27.6 mi
44.4 km
Atherton
closed
28.7 mi
46.2 km
Menlo Park
29.9 mi
48.1 km
Palo Alto
30.6 mi
49.2 km
Stanford
select weekend trains on game days only
31.6 mi
50.9 km
California Avenue
33.9 mi
54.6 km
San Antonio
34.7 mi
55.8 km
Castro
closed
36.1 mi
58.1 km
Mountain View
Orange Line (VTA)
38.6 mi
62.1 km
Sunnyvale
Fare zone 3
Fare zone 4
40.6 mi
65.3 km
Lawrence
44.1 mi
71 km
Santa Clara
AmtrakAltamont Corridor Express San Jose International Airport (via List of VTA bus routes#60)
45.5 mi
73.2 km
College Park
two weekday local daily round trips only
CEMOF
46.7 mi
75.2 km
San Jose Diridon enlarge…
AmtrakAltamont Corridor Express Green Line (VTA)
48.9 mi
78.7 km
Tamien
Blue Line (VTA)
Fare zone 4
Fare zone 5
weekday
commutes
52.2 mi
84 km
Capitol
55.5 mi
89.3 km
Blossom Hill
Fare zone 5
Fare zone 6
67.3 mi
108.3 km
Morgan Hill
71.0 mi
114.3 km
San Martin
77.2 mi
124.2 km
Gilroy
Castroville
planned
Salinas
under construction
Amtrak

Handicapped/disabled access All stops are accessible except for 22nd Street, College Park and Stanford

Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a commuter rail line in California, serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon 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 express, limited, and local services. There are 28 regular stops, one limited-service weekday-only stop (College Park), one weekend and holiday-only stop (Broadway), and one stop that is only served on football game days (Stanford). While average weekday ridership in 2019 exceeded 63,000, impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been significant: in June 2024, Caltrain had an average weekday ridership of 24,580 passengers.[6]

Caltrain is governed by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB) which consists of agencies from the three counties served by Caltrain: Santa Clara, San Francisco, and San Mateo. Each member agency has three representatives on a nine-member Board of Directors. The member agencies are the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans).

Historically served by diesel locomotives, Caltrain has electrified 51 miles (82 km) of its route between 4th and King and Tamien and has transitioned to electric service, with diesel trains remaining in service between San Jose and Gilroy.[7]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-roman> tags or {{efn-lr}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-roman}} template or {{notelist-lr}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Fare Media Sales-Based Ridership Estimates". Caltrain. San Mateo County Transit District. Retrieved August 3, 2024.
  2. ^ "Transit Ridership Report Fourth Quarter 2023" (PDF). American Public Transportation Association. March 4, 2024. Retrieved September 5, 2024.
  3. ^ "Caltrain-Commute Fleet". Caltrain.com. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  4. ^ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Stadler was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "Draft Board Agenda Packet - Oct 6 - WEB_0-1". www.caltrain.com. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  7. ^ Caltrain. "Electrification | Caltrain". www.caltrain.com. Retrieved September 7, 2022.