Bellarmine Caltrain riders win reprieve
Beginning in August, Morgan Hill, San Martin and Gilroy commuters will have one less train to ride to and from work when Caltrain changes the scheduled trains from four round trips daily to three. And the cost of riding the train goes up July 1.
The earliest train will depart Gilroy at 6:06am and Morgan Hill at 6:21am. Currently the earliest trains leave Gilroy at 5:16am and Morgan Hill at 5:31am. The complete, new schedule is not yet available.
A 17.5 percent fare increase will boost the daily Gilroy/Morgan Hill to San Jose commute from $8.50 to $10. Getting to San Francisco and back will cost $19, up from $16. A second fare increase of 5.6 percent will go into effect Jan. 1, 2006. The two increases are expected to yield $4 million a year.
The news from Caltrain wasn’t all bad, however. South County students who take Caltrain to Bellarmine College Preparatory won a reprieve Friday when the agency decided to keep the historic College Park station open.
The College Park station was one of four expected to be closed by the Caltrain board of directors. But after an impassioned protest by many of the 300 Bellarmine students and administrators who use the station, the directors decided to continue limited service there, with four stops rather than the current 12.
Commuters who take Caltrain from San Jose to San Francisco and points in between will have more trains to choose from, the most trains in its 141-year history. The total number of weekday trains will increase from 86 to 96 and will include 22 Baby Bullet trains, up from the current 10.
The new schedule extends the popular express train service to five new stations: San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Sunnyvale and Tamien in San Jose.
The changes come as Caltrain is scrambling to close a budget gap of at least $13.6 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The agency also plans to offer several more of the profitable “baby bullet” commuter trains to San Francisco and replace some local service with express trains. Caltrain wanted to close the College Park station because it would interfere with the express train schedule.
Spokeswoman Jayme Kunz said Friday that the agency was able to work around a limited schedule there and the new schedule will feature more trains overall.
The changes leave Caltrain about $2 million shy of a balanced budget. The agency will try to recoup those funds from its partner transit agencies in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Supervisor Don Gage, who is on the board of Caltrain and the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, said getting money out of cash-strapped local agencies is unlikely.
“We’ve been cutting all along,” Gage of the VTA. “I don’t know how we’re going to make $2 million up. It’s a tough situation, but we’re scratching for everything we can. My fear is that (with the cuts) ridership is going to go down. I’m concerned about the whole system.”
The three stations that will be closed are Atherton, Broadway in Burlingame and Paul Avenue in San Francisco. Caltrain will run shuttle services at those stations.
Gilroy Dispatch reporter Matt King can be reached at mk***@gi************.com or 847-7240.
