With a Baby Bullet express, one can travel between San Jose and San Francisco in a little under an hour, thirty minutes faster than with the local train. Caltrain realized that speeding up its service by skipping more stops was the best way to attract more riders. People simply want speed!
But, instead of converting all its trains to express trains and canceling minor stations, Caltrain decided to change the stopping patterns of its local trains. Local trains became "limiteds" at peak hours.
A "limited" Caltrain stops at all local stations until a designated point, and then continues as an express until the end of the line.
Another "limited" train goes express to the same point and then continues as a local. A timed-transfer between these two trains guarantees access to all local stations. Express service is no longer exclusively for those who board a major train station. People who previously had expresses bypassing their stations can now fully take advantage of the faster trains. In addition to the "limiteds," Caltrain continues to run Baby Bullets stopping only at major stations for the entire route.
Caltrain saw an all-time record ridership for an average weekday this year. Caltrain attributes this growth to the introduction of express and new stopping patterns.
Photo by Flickr user paulkimo9.
