Bullets debut June 7 Bullets debut June 7 (May 19, 2004)

By Arthur L.Lloyd

Caltrain's Baby Bullet service starts on Monday, June 7. bringing to 86 the total 86 of weekday trains on the San Francisco/San Jose portion of the railroad. It is the most in the 140-year history of the line.

Mondays through Fridays there will be three northbound and two southbound bullet trains in the morning rush hour and three southbound and two northbound in the evening period. The trains will stop in Millbrae, Hillsdale, Palo Alto and Mountain View with an overall elapsed running time of 57 minutes between San Francisco and San Jose.

On the same startup date midday trains will alternate between local and express trains; one each per hour, trains every half-hour between most cities.

Weekend trains, out of service since July, 2002, will resume June 5. Weekend service ended while the railroad completed the extensive reconstruction necessary to bring on the Baby Bullets. Additional signals on the line will allow faster trains to pass slower ones at Bayshore (San Francisco) and Lawrence (Sunnyvale) as well as permit Caltrain to use both tracks in either direction.

Centralized Traffic Control will cover the complete length of the line from San Francisco to Gilroy, allowing trains to travel over most of the railroad at a maximum allowed speed of 70 mph.

When the service was acquired from Southern Pacific, originally by Caltrans in 1980, a total of 54 weekday trains were operated. There were only four southbound trains in the morning with the majority of the travel northbound to San Francisco. Caltrans instituted hourly service and trains gradually increased in number as ridership grew. Now, the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, made up of representatives from the three counties on the route, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara, has operated 76 daily trains up to this new service.

Prior to the weekend shutdown, Sunday and holiday service was once every two hours. Effective June 5 both Saturday and Sunday as well as holiday service will be once per hour, stopping at all stations except Tamien (South San Jose). Weekend special trains to SBC Park in San Francisco will start as well.

What's next on this growing modern railroad? Electrification is in the study phase and the extension in San Francisco to the TransBay Terminal at First and Mission Streets (Financial District) is also proceeding.

Arthur L. Lloyd is a member of the boards that oversee Caltrain and Samtrans, as well as the Almanac's Panel of Contributors.

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