Caltrain is a commuter rail transit system that serves the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley in the U.S. state of California. It is operated under contract by TransitAmerica Services and funded jointly by the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) through the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB). The system's average mid-weekday ridership is 65,095 as of February 2018.Prior to 2018, Caltrain counted "average weekday ridership" by counting riders on all weekday (Monday through Friday) trains for one week and computing the average as the sum of all riders over one week divided by five. In 2018, Caltrain shifted to counting "average mid-weekday ridership" by counting riders on trains on two of the three mid-weekday days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday) for two weeks and computing the average as the sum of all riders on the four mid-week days divided by four. An examination of mid-weekday ridership data from 2013 through 2017 showed ridership on these three mid-weekday days is approximately equal. Since Monday (-1% compared to mid-weekday ridership) and Friday (-9%) trains tend to have lower ridership than mid-weekday trains, the pre-2018 "average weekday ridership" results in a count approximately 2% less than the 2018+ "average mid-weekday ridership" methodology. Details from 2018 Ridership Report

The original railroad between San Francisco and San Jose (known as the Peninsula Commute) was built by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in 1863. In 1870 the railroad was acquired by Southern Pacific. Southern Pacific double tracked the line in 1904. In 1958 the railroad had record ridership, 7.5 million passengers. The popularity of the railroad began to decline and in 1977 Southern Pacific petitioned to the state government to discontinue Peninsula Commute. After months of negotiation, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reached an agreement with the three counties of which the Peninsula Commute ran through to continue rail operation. Under the agreement, the system was renamed Caltrain and operation responsibilities were shared by Caltrans, Southern Pacific and the three counties. The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board was formed in 1987, and it bought the right of way of Caltrain from Southern Pacific in late 1991 for $220 million. The PCJPB formally took over the operation of Caltrain in 1992 and contracted Amtrak to operate the system. In the same year, Caltrain extended to Gilroy. Amtrak's contract with PCJPB was renewed in 2001.

The system has 31 stations. 28 stations are served daily, one (Broadway) is served on weekends and holidays only, one (College Park) is served via two round trips on weekdays only, and one (Stanford) is served on Stanford University's football game days only on weekends. San Francisco 4th and King Street is the northern terminus of the system, while Gilroy is the southern terminus. The five southernmost stations—Capitol, Blossom Hill, Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy—are served only on weekdays during commute times by select trains. Sixteen stations are served by the limited train service. Eleven stations are served by the express train service, inaugurated in 2004. Seven stations (Millbrae, Burlingame, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and San Jose Diridon) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Of the 31 stations in the system, 27 of them are accessible. The four stations that are not accessible are in order from north to south, 22nd Street, Broadway, Stanford, and College Park. The weekend and holiday-only Broadway station is planned to be completely rebuilt; upon completion, it would be ADA-compliant. The non-accessible Atherton station was closed on December 13, 2020. Of the four non-accessible stations in the system, only 22nd Street sees regular service. A plan to add ADA-compliant ramps to the station is currently being considered.

Stations +Limited stationsLimited and Express stationsSouth County Connector stationsSelect trip only stationsTransfer stations with other rail systems ADA compliant stations

Farezone Mile Location Station Abbr. 2018 weekdayridership Connections/Notes Image1 0.2San Francisco SFK Muni Metro: Muni Bus: 15, 30, 31, 45 1.9TWE Muni Bus: 48, 55 5.2San Francisco/Brisbane BAY Muni Metro: (at ) Commute.org: BCP 9.3South San Francisco SSF Commute.org: OPC, UGC SamTrans: 130/130B, 292, 397 11.6San Bruno SBR SamTrans: 41, 142, EPX, ECRO2 13.7Millbrae MIL BART: Commute.org: BAY, BPT, MBC, NFC SamTrans: ECR, 292, 397, 713 15.2Burlingame BWY114 (Sat & Sun) Weekend and holiday service only. Commute.org: MBC SamTrans: 46, 292 16.3 BUR SamTrans: 46, 292 17.9San Mateo SMT SamTrans: CSM, 59 19.1 HPK 20.0 HIL Commute.org: FCC, HCC SamTrans: ECR, 51, 57, 251, 397 21.9Belmont BEL Commute.org: RLC SamTrans: ECR, 60, 62, 67, 260, 397 23.2San Carlos SCS SamTrans: ECR, 61, 260, 295, 397 25.4Redwood City RWC Commute.org: SEA SamTrans: ECR, EPX, 270, 276, 278, 295, 296, 296O, 397 Stanford University: Marguerite Shuttle3 28.9Menlo Park MPK SamTrans: 82, 83, 86, 296 Midday Shuttle: M1, M3 30.1Palo Alto PAL SamTrans: 280, 281, 296, 397, ECR Dumbarton Express VTA: 21, 22, 522 Stanford University: Marguerite Shuttle 30.8 STF —Select weekend trains on game days only. 31.8 CAL VTA: 89 Stanford University: Marguerite Shuttle 34.1Mountain View SAT VTA: 21 36.1 MVW VTA light rail: VTA: 21, 40, 51, 52, 200 MVgo A, B, C, D, Gray, Red 38.8Sunnyvale SUN VTA: 20, 21, 53, 55, 5234 40.8Caltrain LAW 44.7Santa Clara SCL : Altamont Corridor Express VTA: 21, 22, 53, 59, 60, 522 46.3San Jose CPKTwo daily round trips only. 47.5 SJD : , Altamont Corridor Express VTA light rail: VTA: 22, 64A, 64B, 68, 202, 500, 568 Santa Cruz Metro: 17 49.1 TAM VTA light rail: VTA: 25, 56, 201, 2565 52.4 UPRR CAP VTA: 66, 68, 568 55.7 UPRR BHL VTA: 5686 67.5 UPRRMorgan Hill MHL VTA: 68, 287, 568 71.2 UPRRSan Martin SMR VTA: 68, 287, 568 77.4 UPRRGilroy GIL VTA: 68, 84, 85, 86, 568 MST: 59 Gold Runner: 40 LTA: County Express

Closed stations Mile Station Closed Fare zone Location Notes 4.1Paul Avenue 2005 1San FranciscoClosed due to low ridership. 8.6Butler Road 1983 1South San FranciscoClosed due to the closure of the adjoining steel mill. 20.0Bay Meadows 2005 2San MateoConsolidated with Hillsdale station. 27.8 Atherton 20203 Atherton Closed due to low ridership and the hold-out rule. 34.9Castro20003Mountain ViewReplaced by San Antonio station.

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