Caltrain tests Baby Bullets Caltrain tests Baby Bullets (May 19, 2004)

Two years of sleepy weekend silence along the Caltrain corridor came to an end May 15 and 16 as Caltrain engineers, conductors and dispatchers made practice runs of the express train -- called the "Baby Bullet" -- that should cut 40 minutes from trips between San Jose and San Francisco, Caltrain officials said.

Practice runs with top speeds of 79 mph will continue next weekend, May 22 and 23, officials said. Regular express service begins Monday, June 7, with 10 weekday trains making six stops in the 57-minute run: San Jose, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Hillsdale, Millbrae, and San Francisco. The trains stop at the 22nd Street station twice in the mornings on southbound trips and twice in the evenings on northbound trips.

Weekend service resumes Saturday, June 5.

The railway spent $110 million over two years to improve signals, switches and tracks, officials said.

"We hope the Baby Bullet service will cause drivers to take a look at Caltrain and realize that they can get places faster on the train than in their cars," said Caltrain chief operating officer Chuck Harvey.

- Bay City News Service

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