5 stars for the bullet service that gets me to work fast. Minus one star for old trains that are uncomfortable.

Railroad tailgating is happening every game day, as hundreds of Peninsular people hop the Caltrain to the ballpark with six packs and other treats, which they enjoy right there on the train as it chugs up the Peninsula toward the King Street station. No hassle from the Caltrain staff, either. After the game, grab one of the two special trains. If you live in San Carlos or points south, grab the first baseball special, leaving 15 minutes after the final out. That train is express to San Carlos, making it a quick journey to the mid-Peninsula and South Bay, hitting every stop after San Carlos. If you live north of San Carlos, take the second train, leaving 25 minutes after the last out. You'll stop at every station. This is a great connection between mass transit and a major attraction and is to be applauded. I love this combination. read more

This hidden Caltrain station doesn't appear on my iPhone google map so I didn't know it's exact address but it does exist. Parking here would cost $2 but it looks like they removed the pay machines so I guess (hope) it's free? read more

Just for the fact that you can get a monthly pass, and add on whatever amount to ride the local transit, be it MUNI, VTA, Caltrain deserves a better rating than BART. I like the fact that their are solo seats, where you can sit by yourself. Yeah, they are cramped, but I'm short, so I don't notice it too much. I'm just happy for the fact that I don't have to sit by some about to give birth man. You all know the type. That man who sits by you who has to spread his legs ALL the way open, so you're sqooshed in that five inches of space that he's let you have. I like the idea of Express trains too. I would be SOOO much happier if BART followed that concept. read more

Caltrain is fun to ride, fun to talk on, fun to mingle with the conductors on. They would let me make the announcements on the trains I'd ride home when I worked since I talked with them. Some of the conductors are very stern, others are quite friendly. On time performance? Still bad. Been ridin' this bad boy for quite a few years now. (Read: 7, off and on) The locations are awesome, glad they cut back the ones in the rich, tiny cities, it was just a slowdown. The baby bullets are nice, but I never ride them... My complaints are that it still doesn't leave the city any later than 9pm on a Sunday, as well as the constant fare increases. read more

Its one of my stops. I love this station since you don't have to walk on the tracks to cross to the other side, which makes it a bit safer than the other stations read more

There are bathrooms at some stations and toilets I think on all the trains. I have never even come close to peeing all over myself on the Caltrain. read more

BEST PART OF CALIFORNIA! So you're hanging out in the golden state (more specifically the Bay Area) and need something to do - before you try the restaurants, see the sea lions, or cross the golden gate take a ride on Caltrain! Caltrain is this cool train that runs from San Jose/Gilroy to San Francisco daily and lets you see the best parts of California the old fashion way - by train. Just think - no road rage because your stuck in traffic, no cramped cars, and you will see every cool small town along the way. My favorites are Mountain View, San Mateo and Palo Alto. Best of all you can get a day pass for $13.50 and ride the train as much as you want. As someone who lives off of public transportation I give Caltrain two huge thumbs up! read more

"you can follow it running" was how it was first described to me on my first week in California and I havent found any reason to fight with that description since then. read more

i took the caltrain a few times to visit my friend down in san jose. man does this train take forever!!! from the san bruno station to the stop after downtown san jose, it took like 2 hours!! i realize the train itself is alot cleaner than local transportation like bart and muni, but geez, why does it go so frikkin slow? as soon as the train gets some speed, it already needs to slow down because it's approaching the next station.... argh... i'm so glad i don't rely on caltrain as a daily mode of transportation... maybe it's better for shorter distances like between san francisco and san mateo... read more

the caltrain is amazing if you want to get wasted and go to a giants game from san jose and not worry about drunk driving! otherwise, its really slow and you will get yelled at for having your feet on the seats! thats all. read more

Nice view here but I don't have any places to go to around the San Carlos area to kill the wait times.

Caltrain probably is my favorite out of all the public transportation in the Bay Area. It's a very pleasant ride and so much easier to take to the south bay and to SF since I hate driving at times. I only wish they operated more trains during the weekends. read more

I LOVE Cal Train... Especially the newer trains with the tables and four set configuration. It is clean, and they treat you like a grown-up even if you are on Drink-Train. read more

The Good: --Avoids the stress of Bay Area traffic --Saves gas and hopefully pollution, CO2, etc. (but the trains are diesel, not electric, so I'm not sure). The Bad: --Bullet trains: A great idea in theory, but horrible in practice. Most stations aren't serviced by bullet trains and because there aren't separate lines for bullets and local trains, local service has to be scaled back during commute hours to accommodate the bullet trains. For the majority of people who aren't traveling all the way between SJ and SF, this often means waiting an hour between trains during peak commute hours! --Horrible communication: Not all stations have display signs indicating status, the stations that have signs often don't have accurate up-to-date information, and there's no status information available online. --Limited service: No 24/7 service, long intervals between trains. Only one line, so not practical for many locations. --Expensive: Much more expensive than the NYC subway (which unlike Caltrain has several lines running at frequent intervals 24/7). In fact, if it weren't for employer-subsidized "Go Passes", it might be cheaper to pay for the gas to drive. --Lack of grade separations: Whenever there are at-grade road crossings, crashes are bound to occur; when they do, the results are a commuter's nightmare. --Rough ride: Most of the passenger cars are ~20 years old and have horrible suspension so the cars bounce like crazy making it hard to read (and forget about trying to write legibly). Bottom Line: Despite the many frustrating problems, Caltrain works for me because I don't like traffic and my employer pays for the fare and parking. But I would never depend on Caltrain in a time-sensitive situation (like going to the airport). read more

it's more comfortable, and they are ALWAYS on time, except those occasions where someone drives onto the tracks or some other amazing and shocking occurence. So not too much problems with Caltrain. I've set my watch to their schedule! read more

Better and cheaper than bart, but they should have a smoking section on the platform and also sell sodas and stuff on the train.

I give Caltrain some stars for making my Alameda to Palo Alto commute after getting in a motorcycle accident not so horrible. "Not so horrible. Look deeply into that." Caltrain, you could be awesome. These are things about you I like: 1) When I can actally get onto a train, it's clean, I can usually find a seat all by myself, and it's awesome to be able to look out the window and see an entire peninsula pass by Things about you I don't like: 1) WHEN I can actually get onto a train, I said. I have waited at the Palo Alto train station for over an hour, in the freezing cold. No updates, no signs, just waiting, waiting, in the freezing cold, and unable to plan with any sort of certainty just when a train might, if it decides to, show up. It takes me anywhere from 2-4 hours to get home, and all dependent on if a Caltrain train decides to show up. 2) For the skanky ticket-checker who yelled at me, slammed a door on me... Y'know, it's your job to check tickets. Yeah, i was taking a nap, wearing sound isolating earphones, but I was holding my ticket clearly in view, faced toward you, clearly visible, and you yelling at me over and over and slamming your tools against the metal frame for I have no idea why and then finally shoving me after you walked up the stairs and snatching the ticket roughly from my hand and then throwing it back onto me... You're lucky all I did was glare at you, and then go back to sleep. And that thing you did where you then, later in my trip, decided out of all the cars to visit a utility closet directly behind my seat, and roughly slam the door against my seat, and thrust your arm against my head as you passed... We're talking throw-down right there. I would have, were it not the middle of the peninsula, and raining outside. That would've been a long walk home, and too high a price to pay for kicking some menopausal b*tch ticket taker's butt. Caltrain, you get 2 stars. You are WAY too expensive for what you actually deliver. read more

Been riding CT for the last several years, hundreds of rides from san carlos to SC and MTV and SF. But sometimes i get so angry at this antiquated system. Don't get me wrong i love staying out of my car, but today is one of those last straws. Get to MTV in time to catch the 289 northbound. But we're on the other side of the barriers. You wait and wait for them to go up. When they finally go up, you run over to the train only to see the doors close 3 seconds before you reach them. This after making eye contact with a conductor, who shrugs it off through the glass. Why in the world are you a conductor allowing the door to close when you know people have been waiting at the barrier?? What is the point of having a live person on-board other than to check your ticket (because of the ridiculous "honor" pay system)? Well missing the 7pm train costs you 1/2 hour waiting for the next one. My other pet peeve is the unnecessary noise pollution. I understand the loud diesels and road wheel noise, but blasting your horn into the stations, and that damn bell, are things of the past. This is a commuter train in an urban setting, not a freight train. You literally need ear plugs to survive the platform day in and day out. On-board seating is a joke .. nobody wants to sit 2+2 facing each other is a joke. Rant off. read more

Cleaner than Bart. Sparkling compared to Muni. And someone else drives-definitely a plus in my book given current gas prices. But slow slow slow. If there was an internet connection it would definitely be better! read more

Love sitting in the seats on the upper floors. Like the idea of the express trains. Like the conductors. Wish they were better hooked up with SAMTRANS schedules, which are eventually going to happen by 2020. read more

I have been riding Caltrain for over 10 years now, and I can truly say that right now it is the best it has ever been. The new schedule that gets me to work so much faster has been the biggest improvement by far. Interestingly, in the face of their huge deficit, Caltrain is improving service to riders by increasing bullet trains and improving their schedule. One thing they really ought to do now that they have ticket machines installed everywhere is start selling tickets on board again, but at a higher price. Amtrak does this and they are in great financial shape. Wait. Scratch that. But seriously- you know there would be a lot of people who are to late, lazy, or both to get a ticket, and they will help get Caltrain out of the hole. Yes, that will mean that the conductors will have to check everyone on the train again, but what have they been doing since they stopped selling tickets? Anyone? The major major drawback though is there not being enough room for bicycles on the bullet trains. After having talked to several conductors about this, it appears there will be no solution in the forseeable future. This makes the afternoon trip home a little uncertain at times. And for not meeting the needs of your steadiest contingent of riders, Caltrain gets 3 stars. read more

The price and speed (compared to Amtrak I guess - no match for the TGV or Shinkansen) is really good on Caltrain, and I love the Baby Bullet service - can't live without it. I do hope Caltrain electrifies and gets new cars though, the ones now are getting a bit old. Just a bit...the restrooms could use some work too. Please Caltrain, make your service worth it - not more fare hikes. Please. I guess this review was biased, I love trains. Learn to love them and you'll love your daily commute. read more

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 19th century, when it used to run among apricot orchards and picturesque towns. Keeping it without update in the 21st 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. read more

eiw...not like BART; prefer BART over this mode of transportation; used it yesterday only because I wanted to make use of my Commuter Check; I should have realized how CALTRAIN works by different zones and also not to be so quick in purchasing an upgrade not noticing that it had a time expiration. Very complicated ticketing system; upgrade, cost, timing...geez! Returning from San Francisco to San Carlos cost me (because I had to purchase another ticket because the one I had expired 15 minutes earlier...) cost me a total of $14.00 1-way. The best thing about CALTRAIN is the ride. Nice scenery. read more

Trains leave early or trains leave late. There's no inbetween. Also they smell like an old lady

caltrain is so much better than BART, it doesn't even compare! before i moved into the city i lived in Mtn View and had to commute everyday to work in SF, so i took the caltrain. its clean, they have a real conductor, they have a 2nd level with single seats (privacy!) and the ride is so smooth i had to fight to stay awake sometimes. the best part was the little 'store' located at the SF station. they sell mini bottles of wine! i would make sure to always get one on my friday night rides home. a lovely way to commute. read more

Let me preface by saying I never had a problem with Caltrain until I bought the Clipper card. Like others have said, it's clean, comfortable, fairly consistent etc as far as public transportation goes. If just buying a ticket from the regular kiosk, it's fairly easy to figure out. But now that I've started a daily commute between San Jose and SF, the Thomas the Train loving 5 year-old in me has started dreading the trip on Caltrain. The ticket system is a mess, and as David C. said, they have zero leniency for human mistakes. How else can you explain getting a $250 fare evasion ticket despite having 8 pre-paid passes loaded on my card? There's all kinds of stupid caveats to the card, like the Clipper kiosks are all out of service, it takes 3-5 business days to get money on your card, and you have to check in and and at the right stations or it will overcharge you and freeze your card. What I learned: if you have any trouble with your Clipper card at all, buy a one-way ticket! It's stupid when you've already paid for your ride but the conductor will not be understanding and there's nothing you can really do to correct the problem otherwise. read more

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. read more

I have been riding Caltrain for more than 7 years. Most of the time is on time but sometimes it has delays. When this happens it can take 30min or 2hr that's the only thing I always hated. If your are going to a park, restaurant, or a game ride caltrain its really fun when it's a group of friends. read more

I have been a Caltrain rider everyday for a couple years now. Caltrain rocks.......but all us bike riders know they need to put 2 bike cars on a train during heavy commuting hours. read more

One of the nation's worst transit systems. With vintage train cars and seats with legroom that makes Delta seem generous, the real issue is the Clipper card system. Kiosks are frequently out of service, and the entire system routinely displays false or out of date information on the web interface. 5 days to load value? Electronically? In the age of PayPal? And in Silicon Valley no less. Customer service is atrociously inept, and don't trust whether a card reader indicated you have value on your card or whether you've tagged off. I guess all the competent programmers are at some obscure startup, because using Caltrain is like using Netscape in '96. Bathrooms are I frequently cleaned though you can blame sloppy rider habits for that. Being permitted to drink on the trains sounds like a good idea until you see it in practice. The administrators would do well to arrange a trip to Denmark, Korea, or any one of a number of countries with far better, more affordable, and efficient transit networks than the one that an admittedly lazy, car-obsessed populace has seen fit to endure. read more

I have a love and hate relationship with Caltrain. I used to take Caltrain almost every day, but I'm mostly cut back due to issues of money. It can be a bit expensive travelling zone to zone. I mostly use Santrans for my rides. Anyways, I still use Caltrain during late evenings. Even with the late evenings, the train can should up late, not kidding. One evening, they totally forgot to mention on their electronic board that the scedule for the route on that day is change. I waited for the train for a hour in a half in the cold. It's always kinda late, and most of the carts are so-so, but there is one cart that wonderful. It's comes with tables to write. That's the great one. I go on Caltrain so much, I know who the staff are. Most of the staff are great, but they rarely show any sense of customer service. There is one old staff guy who travels with the cool black guy who is a total jerk all the time. I try to avoid him all the time. Some of them don't really show any customer service skills, while others do. One bad service they do, is kick you out of your seat. Let's me explain, I got my ticket, and sat down. 20 minutes into the ride, the guy come to me saying I have to move in a rude fashion. The reason why is because the seats were reservated. First off, you didn't mention that, second off, I pay for my seat, and there supposely no such thing as reserve seats on Caltrain. He was very disrespected. Most of the time, it so-so. I travel to San Jose from Sam Francisco, somedays. I kinda wish we can make good timing. Anyways heard that, there will be fewer stops coming next year due to cut backs. This will sux a bit. As I work in evenings some days in San Mateo, but live near San Bruno. read more

Rarely on-time. Frequently dirty. Audio announcements dysfunctional. Why is public transit so horrible in the states??!?

It's a far cry from the MTA. Ever hear of electric trains??? I thought CA was the land of eco-friendly transit? Also, how about getting rid of all the damn grade level pedestrian and vehicle crossings??? It could cut down on the inconvenient "train hits car" and pedestrian incidents that seem to constantly interrupt the flow of my day! Getting rid of a few of the stations so the train doesn't stop every 2 miles would be nice too. The bullets are nice but not enough. I think Caltrain and pretty much every other means of public transit could learn a lot from the NY/NJ MTA and Port Authority. After the post Giants game assault that took place on the 10pm southbound train last Wednesday, 8/8, I'm going back to my car and the 101... and eventually, hopefully, back to the Apple. read more

Never actually used Caltrain in my life, but they always have Muni monthly passes when every other place in the city has run out.

Like all public transportation, Caltrain struggles to make a large population of diverse riders happy. The first schedule change that incorporated baby bullets was a good, but small step. It made much greater headway with it's newest schedule, incorporating more baby bullets with different stops, and other clever, creative ways to make sure no one (well, almost no one) is left out. This new schedule has been very convenient for me - I travel between SF and Mt. View, and Redwood City and Mt. View. However, like all public transportation, your travel/commute times have to work with their schedules. Also, I don't know why the Bay Area's public trains, both Caltrain and BART, are so noisy when they run - London's underground appears to travel at similar speeds, but with much less noise. Caltrain's screeching isn't as bad as BART at high speed, especially the newer trains, but it's still noticeable. read more

Ok. The star rating is primarily for the Cost!!! Given that it's public transportation it's not very reasonable. I've been taking bart for a bit and recently moved to San Jose. So switched to caltrain. So now I'm commuting from San Jose downtown to SF Downtown. The cost is $8.50 per person, one way!!! That's like $17 round trip, plus if you park your car, it's another $3 or if you take the VTA Light rail (because the bullet doesn't stop near my place, so I take vta light rail to diridon station) that's another $4 round trip. Overall about $21 per person per day. The only thing I like, is the fact that you don't have to drive. But it takes me about 2 hours each way. 1 hour for the caltrain and 25-30 mins for the VTA and approx 30 mins wait time each way for both trains. $21 /day is about 6 gallons of gas, and today you can atleast go 180 miles (30mpg) for that gas price these days or higher. I have a motorcycle, and it will take me only 40-45 mins each way (even in traffic - 280 better). Parking is abundant for motorcycles in SF. Many are free too. Before anyone comments "Then don't take it", I'm just trying to prove a point , that having lived in many other countries in Asia and other places, public transportation here (specially caltrain) is so much higher. I guess that's because most of us are too lazy to take it and love our cars ! Monthly pass is good for people who do everyday commute. If you commute only 2-3 days a week then the monthly pass doesn't work. I know the issue is that here, not enough people take the public transportation, so caltrain is just jacking up the price to compensate for it. I think they need to provide more amenities in the train and make it better and lower the price and do more marketing to get more people on it. I see that the baby bullet and many express is these days crowded (even then for the baby bullet, they won't even add additional carsduring peak times, so people can travel in comfort for that rediculous price! ). read more

My husband and I were first timers, taking the train from SJ to SF and I can truthfully say we had a great time and will take it again! Ironically, instead of a peaceful jaunt to the city, we picked our maiden voyage to coincide with a Giants/Dodgers baseball game so as we headed north, more and more fans from each side jumped on board with their assorted fan gear AND their assorted drinks of choice. It was fun to see the groups getting on board and their anticipated pregame excitement. The ride was smooth and easy. The only down side was that one train car had their air conditioning broken so the other cars were a little more crowded than they needed to be. Definitely a worth while way to get to the city while someone else does the driving! read more

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. read more