Caltrain readies

With the beginning of the New Year, Caltrain will introduce weekend Baby Bullet service, a pilot project aimed at increasing revenue and ridership for the rail system.

The pilot project is scheduled to be in place for three months, with an option to extend it. This is additional service; Caltrains notes no trains or stops have been dropped from the weekend schedule. The Baby Bullet schedule features one train in each direction in the morning and one train in each direction the evening, or four trains in all.

The idea, approved last October by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, was partly in response to citizen input given during hearings on service reductions and fare increases to close a $2.3 million budget gap in the Caltrain Fiscal Year 2011 budget.

“We listened to our customers,” said Mark Simon, Caltrain’s executive officer for Public Affairs.

Each train will make seven stops between the terminals in San Francisco and San Jose: Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Hillsdale, San Mateo, and Millbrae. The stops were chosen based on ridership, available connections to other transit, and proximity to city centers, such as a major shopping center or downtown.