Caltrain

The price of a monthly pass for me has risen $ 40 in less than a year, but online customers still have to tag on and off, and wait 5 days for activation. Autoload is broken too. Clipper just sucks. So does your train staff.
If you’re going to charge me more, fix your damn service

Many people like to call this a smaller bullet train. It’s not it is just an older train. It slowly runs between downtown San Francisco and San Jose, I have ridden it a handful of times over the last couple of years and it gets the job done though it can take patients.
My last ride was the worst. Part of that was timing, It was a Saturday and the train only runs hourly and I arrived about 45 minutes until the next train. I got on board and began the ride in. it took forever with lots of stops finally 2 stops from San Francisco they announced that that was the last stop and we were being transferred to busses. The bus I was in was crowded with very uncomfortable seats. We were taken out of the station on a very bumpy road and then were caught in stop and go traffic.
Still that was a very unusual situation. Besides I like riding on trains so I still give it a score of A-​ok.

Caltrain is a joke …
It’s a glorious shame, it’s a blatant slap in the face to the Bay Area, it’s the arch-​enemy of all the groundbreaking technological advancements in the Silicon Valley, and it’s the epitome of failure and embarrassment.
Compare Caltrain to any other transport system in major cities around the globe (think New York, Europe, Tokyo, Hong Kong etc.), and it’ll emerge as an unjustifiably expensive, technologically outdated and mechanically problematic system.
But for those who are stuck with taking the Caltrain, I guess the joke is on us …

Slightly delayed but I would say most of the time it is on target with the board displayed ETA’s which are updated based on the train hitting any complications or if it is (rarely) early.
This particular CalTrain is in a great centrally located area for San Carlos which is appreciated and had a neat little café here that has decent breakfast as well.
Really enjoy the CalTrain over BART and the route with less stops is usually also very efficient and quick. However it is slightly unreliable during rush hour or for people who need to be someplace on time such as for work.
Upcoming San Francisco 49er’s game will also be relegating the CalTrain to the sole usage of people with Superbowl tickets as well which I find offensive use of the local taxpayers monies!

Brought the whole family on the train to watch the Sharks game. They were visiting from the UK. We all bought day passes. We caught the 6:24 from RWC due to get in to San Jose at 7:00. Game started at 7:30 but due to yet again a broken train we didn’t get into the game until 8:00 — totally missing the first period. In future I’ll just pay for the über.

Customer service is awful. Just awful. I was riding the train a couple of weeks ago and could not remember if I tagged on, I asked the conducter to check my clipper card for me, and he said not to worry about it, just tag off when I get to my stop, if It says I havent tagged on yet just tag it again at the same station. Well I had indeed forgot to tag on as it turns out, and when I tried to follow the advice of the conductor, and just tag back off at that same station, it charged me again! Two max fairs for what should be a $ 3 train ride… I called their customer service, sat through 20 minutes of non skippable automated machine, only to by the agent they could do nothing for me until the next day, something about 24 hours for it to reflect.
Fine, I call back the next day, another 20 minutes of non skippable automation, but they need me to answer a security question in order to prove I am who I say I am, god forbid they refund their error to who? Someone who stole my clipper card and puts their own money on it? Well I move a lot for work and dont remember my old address exactly, I tell them it is «something like 122 example street, or maybe 124 example street?» when my old address was actually 123 example steet… Not good enough. SO the next day I look up my old address to call them and after ANOTHER 20 minutes of non skippable aggrevating voice messages, they tell me they will not refund my two max fairs because 5 months ago I called in when i had tagged on before i knew that there had been a train strike the station ahead of me and ended up having to take a taxi instead of the train. They will only issue one refund every 6 months…
I did the RIGHT thing, I asked the conductor to help me, I FOLLOWED his advice EXACTLY and lost 60 minutes of my time sitting through the sh***y «customer service» to tell me that caltrain was going to keep my money even though they are in the wrong. They told me I should be more careful tagging on and off! More careful to what? It was your fault caltrain, both times! I WILL be more careful caltrain! More careful to ride other forms of public transportation instead of this highway robbery!
My advice is if you make a mistake, dont even bother with their «customer service line» it will only lead to aggrevation, just eat the loss, not worth it. I will be switching to bart and bus whenever possible.

It is better than without it, for sure, and it is almost the best I can say about caltrain after using it on and off for years. Considering the traffic in the bay area, nobody should enjoy driving in the rush hour, but most people still refuse to take the train on a regular basis, for many a good reason. It is totally out of date compared with the trains in Europe. The stations and ticket system barely work, misleading people, encouraging hitchhikers, and causing a lot of tragic accidents. It rarely runs on time, if you don’t leave from sf. The bike car is always a chaos, although it is better on the bullet train. The conductors all have their own inconsistent rules, making people confused. The connections to BART and airport are so complicated that people easily get lost (and miss the flight!). The worst of its fate is that the management runs on a self-​destructing down spiral. Each time it hits a budget problem because it is bleeding, they decided to simply cut the trains and elevate the fare. The result? As you expected, the revenue is further reduced as fewer people will buy tickets. I believe in public transit, but it could’ve been a lot better here.

It’s the biggest shame on Public Transit in the Bay Area, for politicians and militant taxpayers, who aren’t able to achieve the necessary funding to make it a modern and reliable service.
It serves a well congested corridor, linking SF and Silicon Valley, but the layout still remains from the 19^th century, when it used to run among apricot orchards and picturesque towns.
Keeping it without update in the 21^st century means there are crossings at the same level everywhere, leading to car hits (2 this week), suicides and other personal fatalities (12 a year in average). However, they’re still complacent about the fact that they’re electrifying the line in 2016 (!!). Yes, this is the cradle of technology.
You never know when you’re going to get home or at work. I spent 4 hours extra in the train this week. Car is the only alternative, but traffic jams are everyday more frequent.
If I don’t rate it 1 star is because i think the crew do an amazing job and the twitter account is constantly updating is status.

Turn in the air and ventilate this incubus of consolidate bacteria. #cantbreathe
Also clean the damn seats… bathroom and arm rests and handles. Smells like poopoo

I’m a big fan of public transport and riding trains as driving in traffic sucks, especially during rush hour commutes. I’m currently riding the Caltrain up to SF and here are my thoughts:
Pros:
— great to even have the option of riding a train on the West Coast.
— takes you directly to SF (though not the heart of it)
— bikes are free to take onboard
— beats driving any day
Cons:
— super expensive for what it is if you don’t have a monthly pass. Day pass was $ 18.50!!! It’s one line!
— the day pass only lets you ride on Caltrain– not integrated with other Bay Area systems like BART
— hardly runs — only a few trains an hour, in evenings its once an hour!
— lots of people riding, forget about a seat if you catch the train closer to the City
— it’s really noisy!
— it could do with a wash — not the cleanest trains I’ve seen.
— no automated train announcements
— no sun shades on the windows
— parking at stations is expensive — if you can find a spot!
— no wifi! This train cuts through the heart of Silicon Valley, how is there no wifi on this train???
I’m just shocked how expensive the day pass is — people who live in South Bay could just drive up to the City and pay for parking — the Caltrain cost structure does not incentivise them to do this.

I have to downgrade my previous review because in the short time I’ve lived in the Bay Area I’ve seen it degrade. It’s become more crowded and breakdowns have become more frequent. The trains are ancient and are falling apart. Their badging system is unforgiving, and they don’t take advantage of technology to allow paying customers to make corrections while on the train.
My last experience was the last straw for me, and the last time I’ll depend on Caltrain. Maybe the last time I’ll ride.
On my way to SFO airport on a Saturday morning, I tried to hop on the train at Sunnyvale, and the train comically broke down right when I boarded, with an unknown delay (I heard it ended up being 45 minutes). I ended up taking a taxi instead. Chancing either a Caltrain or BART breakdown isn’t worth it.
It’s really baffling how such a rich area has such outdated transportation. When you see either Caltrain or BART approaching, they look like they’re barreling out of a time warp straight out of the 1980s.

Do NOT take Caltrain to and from the SF Giants games… especially night games!
We stood in the aisle to the game the whole way from Redwood City to SF.
After the game, we got on the southbound train at 11:30pm. There were no seats available for me, my husband and two sons. We sat on the floor of the «train car». It was so packed that the whole car had people sitting on the floor and the aisle was full of standing passengers.
We had to make every stop from SF to Redwood City. A group of twenty-​somethings sat on the floor next to us passing around a bottle of Vodka and then a vapor pipe and then a marijuana pipe. I didn’t feel comfortable confronting the group because they were drunk and high and now pending the empty vodka bottle on the floor of the train.
We got up and moved upstairs when seats vacated. I couldn’t believe my kids had to sit and inhale vapor and marijuana on a trip home from the Giants game!
There was NO security or conductors in sight to ask this group to stop smoking and drinking on the train.
Total disappointment. We will never take the train to and from the Giants game again.

I have ridden the C-​train until my junior year in HS because it’s not safe and is a bad place for where lonely single people have died of unhappiness. I still ride the train on Valentines day but for the other days, the train is crowded and noisy. The staff on board do not help and care for themselves which is against world public transport rules. This train really lacks the technology that you see in other commuter rail systems that you see in the US. If you want to be safe go to Fremont or Milbrae because there is absolutely no security here for single people. The phone signs do not help. Caltrain grow some brains and let single people ride the train. Stations need work too. On weekends the service is not very frequent.
good news is that the train is fast and really good after you have gone clubbing, shopping or exploring in SF.

I have taken Caltrain for over ten years, but as of August I am switching to BART. I live in San Carlos and it is a short and convenient drive to the San Carlos Caltrain station, but once there I am treated to third world levels of unreliability and overcrowding. It’s worth driving to Millbrae to avoid this terrible rail system.
Where to begin? Caltrain was once the best transit system in the Bay Area. It was convenient, clean, and reliable, and seats were always available. But now it is overused, underfunded, and maintenance and cleanliness have both declined. There are regular, catastrophic service outages and delays, usually because a single engine has broken down somewhere down south. It is now almost impossible to find a seat anywhere north of San Carlos, and in some cases I’ve had to stand all the way to the city even from my home station. During baseball season the trains are crammed with drunks and rowdies, and when there is a daytime game it is almost impossible to reach the 4^th and King station because of the crowds leaving the game.
Once you reach San Francisco, you have to contend with SF Muni, a system whose service can most charitably be described as «capricious.» The 4^th and King terminus is by an accident of history located at 1 – 2 miles from the nearest actual employer, and depending on the mood of its drivers Muni takes anywhere from 20 to 45 minutes to cross that remaining distance. (Word to the wise: avoid the KT light rail altogether, especially if you’re female.)
No discussion of Caltrain is complete without mentioning the truly awful implementation of the Clipper fare payment sytem. Caltrain requires monthly pass holders to maintain cash balances on their Clipper cards, and those passes can’t be loaded automatically; holders must remember to tag on and off at a card reader the first time they ride each month. If they forget, they can be fined hundreds of dollars by conductors, even though they have already paid for their pass. If they tag more than once, the system takes money off their card, rather than just recognizing the presence of the pass.
Don’t look for things to get better. California is forcing communities to build high-​density housing developments near Caltrain stations all along the rail corridor, flooding more and more commuters onto a system that was not built to handle them. And Caltrain can’t add more trains to alleviate overcrowding. A lunatic agreement with the state high speed rail authority limits them to six trains an hour in perpetuity, in order to leave room on their tracks for imaginary Shinkansen.
Goodbye, Caltrain. You should be ashamed.

Generally I enjoy riding the Caltrain. It doesn’t save me time but it does eliminate the frustration of driving in traffic. Today, however, I found two of your conductors to be completely unreasonable.
I’m a business commuter who rides the train 5 days a week. I am part of a commuter benefits program that takes money directly out of my paycheck and then auto-​loads my Clipper Cars with a monthly pass. This AM I tagged on like you must every month to reload the card. When the conductor came around I gave her my card as always. It scanned as having no pass. Apparently the card did not load when I tagged. I explained that the same info I wrote above the conductor seemed in a foul mood and asked for my ID. Without further discussion she abruptly left with my ID without saying where she was going or what she was using it for. A few minutes later she reappeared saying another conductor had my ID in another part of the train. When I found him, he was in the process if writing me a ticket. Really?
Was the New Years resolution of Caltrain to be completely unreasonable to its loyal, paying customers? And what’s up with taking my ID without telling me where you are going with it and what you are doing with it. Unprofessional.
Clipper Card website shows I have a valid pass although it apparently did not load this AM. I understand you have a job to do and rules to follow. But like all jobs that have not been outsourced to a computer, there is a little room for a little common sense.

I enjoy taking the Caltrain. I love the fact that they have baby bullet trains to the major stops. It’s clean (especially relative to BART), quiet (except when you’re surrounded by Giants fans!) and for the most part punctual. It’s true that the trains don’t always run on time, but in my experience that’s not too often. Plus, I don’t mind being a few minutes late to my destination if I can avoid getting stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident or construction. I think many would agree that Bay Area traffic is often more unpredictable than any train schedule.
I’d also like to add that in my dealings with Caltrain I’ve found the staff to be very helpful and responsive– (thank you Robert Schwartz)!!

I mean drinking while commuting and avoiding traffic? It gets you to where you need it to.
Thanks for something useful that my tax dollars go towards.

Caltrain (not CalTrain, Cal Train or Cal train) is being impacted as a victim of its own success. Since many aren’t willing to tax themselves for more frequent/​faster/​better train service (unlike those living in areas served by BART) Caltrain’s rolling stock tends to be older, more rickety and the headways are way longer than convenient, but the quality of service shines.
Although you cannot prevent suicides by train (as the distraught choose to impose psychological harm upon the train engineer who cannot stop a full-​length commuter train in time as well as the messed up schedules to everyone else on down the line) the staff tries as much as possible to keep their ridership relatively sane.
From that lone male conductor who wears an old cap saying «Trainman» across the front brim to the woman who wears a trench coat with coattails attached, many of the employees aboard give Caltrain a public persona to what otherwise is a utilitarian monolithic service whose primary job is to get you from point A to B reliably, but not necessarily on time.
For you twitter folk, the @Caltrain_News (
) communications manager is hilarious and witty in comparison to many others employed by different transit agencies (like Metrolink in Southern California.) Should you find yourself waiting for a train that didn’t show up on time, tweet away (nicely and maybe humorously.)
The best thing about Caltrain: bicycle service. But don’t bring too many aboard; they’re starting to get bumped due to trains being full nowadays. Caltrain is the most bicycle accessible commuter rail service in the country, hands down.

I’m from LA, where I very rarely take public transportation, so taking trains is always novel to me… and a little scary. I tend to get lost on public transit. But not this one! The stops are all clearly marked and were announced clearly, and there were train employees both outside the train before I boarded, and around once aboard to ask questions of if I’d felt extra uneasy. Yes, I was checked for a ticket once I was on the train, so don’t YOU try to sneak through, that’s a $ 250 fine.
The trains were delightfully clean and I like how much room they allot for bikes; they get their own special car (you have to stay by your bike, you aren’t allowed to lock it to anything). I didn’t feel rushed to get on or off, like I was going to be trapped/​left behind. I managed to catch the Baby Bullet train from Palo Alto to San Jose, which cut my travel time by a third, and that’s hard to complain about. It was easy to get a seat facing the way we were traveling (motion sick=no fun).
Yay CalTrain!

I love the train. The choo chooo takes me everywhere. I take it to work, and I take it up to Millbrae to catch BART and I take it to SF, and even to southern parts of the peninsula. It is fast, pretty convenient, and I am oh so happy there is the clipper card that works well with every other transport you need when you leave the train.
It is clean for the most part. Some trains are newer with power outlets and tables. You can drink coffee or tea and look out the window on your trip. It is so much less stressful than driving, and it is better than sitting in the car by yourself in traffic. There is an app for caltrain. I use caltrain droid. It is very accurate, and they give the travel times, as well as how many bike cars there are.
The choo choo is my friend. This review is overdue. Heart.