About the Baby Bullet:

Caltrain introduced its Baby Bullet commute-hour express train service in June 2004, the culmination of years of planning and two years of construction. In 2005, two additional Bullet trains were added. Then in August 2005, Caltrain added 10 more for a total of 22 Bullet trains.

The service includes 11 morning and 11 evening weekday trains, which can make the trip between San Francisco and San Jose in less than an hour. The top speed is the same as for Caltrain's local and limited-stop trains (79 miles an hour), but Baby Bullet trains are able to make up time by stopping at just a few stations and bypassing slower trains.

There are 12 Baby Bullet stations. All Baby Bullets serve the San Francisco, Millbrae and San Jose Diridon stations, but other trains have varying stopping patterns. Other Baby Bullet stations include the downtown San Mateo station, plus Hillsdale (San Mateo), Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Tamien. Five southbound morning trains and five northbound evening trains stop at the 22nd Street station south of the San Francisco terminal.

With the introduction of the Baby Bullet trains, Caltrain now offers 96 weekday trains, by far the highest level in the railroad's 140-plus year history. The Bullets don't operate on weekends, but Caltrain provides excellent, hourly service through most of the day both Saturday and Sunday.

Access:

The Baby Bullet trains have proven to be extremely popular, and parking at those stations is much in demand. For parking information, call Caltrain at 1.800.660.4287 (or TDD 650.508.6448).

Bikes:

Between 16 and 32 bikes are allowed on Bullet cars, depending on the type of equipment. Sixteen bikes are allowed on the gray-and-red bilevel cars; 32 bikes are allowed in gallery cars. On some trains, there is more than one bike car, for a maximum of 32 or 64 bike spaces. As on all trains, the bike car is on the northern end. Because bike space is at a premium, cyclists may want to consider other options so they can ride the Bullet trains, such as lockers.

Baby Bullet Equipment

With the expansion of Baby Bullet service in 2005, Caltrain now operates Baby Bullet service with two types of equipment. Some trains run with newer, bilevel passenger cars and locomotives which were purchased for $53 million to use in the Baby Bullet service. Seventeen cars and six sleek new gray-and-red locomotives look distinctively different from Caltrain's fleet of gallery cars.

The bilevel Bullet cars offer space for up to two wheelchairs, which can be boarded at most stations using accessible ramps. The cars are equipped with café style seating, providing tabletop space with electrical outlets. Each car has one fully accessible restroom.

Trains with gallery cars also have on-board wheelchair space and accessible restrooms, but the use of wheelchair lifts may be required at some stations.

Construction:

The Baby Bullet service would not have been possible without a new signal system and passing tracks, which were constructed during the two-year CTX construction project.