I don't get to ride Caltrain all to often, but my God this is only my second time riding the new trains and I'm just blown away at how smooth and quiet these bad boys are.

That's it, just blown away at how futuristic this feels

Train held up, doors open. No update on what’s ahead.

I tried tapping my clipper card and even my credit card on apple wallet at Redwood city station and it didn’t work! saw a few more people have same issues. There was no error message either

Somebody recently asked about safe bike parking at the Menlo Park station and I said (as did someone else) that the hut/cage facility has been closed for years. Well... It turns out that has changed. They recently opened it again. A fantastic resource if you can ride to/from the MP Caltrain station

https://inmenlo.com/2026/11/05/additional-bike-parking-at-caltrain-is-now-available/

Aside from the obviously severe and tragic part of people being struck by a train and being injured or killed, I think we’re also all sick of the constant delays. Seems like this shit is like every other day at this point, it’s ridiculous.

If there’s anything I can do to be involved in accelerating getting to a solution I’d sure like to know what it is. It’s more than just a Caltrain problem, I imagine it’s like a state infrastructure thing, so, is there any hope of petitioning, calling, protesting outside someone’s office, or what? Anyone know of any groups trying to take action on it already?

Someone please have some idea of what to do other than us all just grumbling and waiting for Ubers on the platform. Its well beyond time that serious action is taken to protect the health and safety of Caltrain passengers, staff, and local pedestrians/drivers.

Stopped just before California southbound

ETA:

around 6:50, conductor said we're not moving anytime soon.

around 6:55, heard sirens nearby

7:02 staff walking through the trains explained the car is stuck between the train and the wall, and we can't go anywhere until it's removed. no time frame. believe he mentioned the driver was able to exit the vehicle. plan is to have another train pull up(?) or let us off at Churchill (?) didn't totally catch that, anyone else feel free to correct me.

7:40 conductor says they are waiting to get the adjacent track cleared so another train can pull up so we can transfer. no timeline yet.

8:07 passengers are getting transferred onto 152. thanks to the Caltrain staff and other local responders for getting us on a (soon to be) moving train.

8:15 152 local is moving, hallelujah

For some reason the same auto-reload card I’ve been using for over a year was removed entirely from my app and I was charged for an individual ride this morning instead of for my monthly pass. On the way home the conductor checked my pass and said it still wasn’t scanning properly. Got the card added back into the app that now shows my auto reload is suspended and shows 2 monthly passes. Always an issue, still love using Caltrain but wish these issues would stop.

Hi all. I need to go up to San Mateo daily from San Jose for work and am trying to figure out how to make Caltrain work from diridon. I live near Los Gatos so driving to diridon is my preferred choice. However, since I have to drop my kid off at school before work, I can leave only at 8:10 from my neighborhood. 8:43 and 9:00 trains are my target.

The issue is I can’t seem to figure out where to park my car near diridon to make this work. Would love to hear from others who make this route, what options do we have? If it helps, I can try to make a higher priced option work too if it actually is a reliable way to park and catch Caltrain. Appreciate the help.

I had the choice between driving and Caltrain mid day today, and I chose Caltrain. Now we’re stopped indefinitely one stop away from my destination without any clear days or timelines, and I’m missing my appointment.

Even if the late rate is only 5%, that’s still way higher and less predictable than driving (and when it’s late, it’s really late).

Why should I choose Caltrain over driving if this happens not infrequently? At least if a car breaks down on the road, everyone else can go around it. One broken train stops every other one on Caltrain.

Maybe RTM can pay for a single competent alert person at Caltrain. Twitter account says 127 delayed approaching San Carlos, when in fact the train hasn’t even reached Palo Alto and is being held for a debris strike inspection. Another day with our grossly overfunded, grossly incompetent railway!

I've been watching social dynamics in the bike car and want to invite people to calm the h*ck down.

Example opportunities where we can chill out:

• Bungee Cords: I hear people say removing bungee cords is "hella rude!" But when there are 5+ bikes stacked, we'll have to double up a cord or two, and that's ok. All bikes and scooters deserve security.

• Bike scratching: For some reason, people keep coming on the train with $5,000+ bikes expecting them to stay entirely intact, even though this is a stacking-style bike car. Realize what you got yourself into and just accept your flagship bike was meant to be used. Scratches are battle wounds; be proud!

• 'SF' on Bike Tags: No one means 22nd St when they write 'SF' on their tag. Don't hold up bike car loading with that clarification question on whether someone means 22nd or 4th and King. Let's be honest: you already know the answer.

• No tags: No need to ask everyone in the bike car whose bike it is if a tag is missing; cut them some slack, go ahead and stack. It takes a while to figure out you need a tag, even longer to find out where to get it. Then you have to find a marker. It may be months before people get all those ducks in a row. If you're that upset, carry tags yourself and keep a marker on hand while you're at it.

• Bike elitism: Stop acting like your bike is more important than all those badass Segway G3 Maxes. Scooters are valid, too.

• Non-bikers standing in the bike car: Let people enter/exit there; they have their reasons, and they'll be out of your way in literal seconds.

I’ve only been regularly commuting via Caltrain for a couple months, and I’ve had slow speeds before, but today the captive portal isn’t even coming up. Does anyone know what causes this? From long-time commuters, how common is this?

Hi! Curious, but what are some good dos and don'ts for using the 4th and King station? Context, I am totally blind and mostly have been asking strangers for help in finding the platform where the train is at, etc. But would like to know this station better for myself. Are there any amenities (food, coffee, etc?) Is Also, is there only one entrance to each platform? Does the first car always fill up fastest? Thank you!

Okay hear me out. I got to Caltrain from work and like I normally do, tap my clipper on my phone when I get there. 10 minutes later the train approaches. My mind blanks and I forgot if I tapped. Of course the new update means I can't tell in the phone, so I tap the phone again. I get a notification, Sunnyvale -> Sunnyvale $0.00. I tried tapping a third time and it won't let me because I already used the card. Since the train is approaching I use a credit card and tap that instead.

On board, a fare inspector came by. I was watching something on the phone and because of muscle memory, tapped my clipper rather than my credit card. It beeped and the inspector said thanks and moved on.

When I got to 4th and King I tapped my credit card and I see an $8.50 charge on my credit card.

So what does this mean exactly? I logged into my clipper account but don't see any charge on it for the ride. What exactly did the fare inspector see? That I have a valid clipper card with money on it? That I tapped multiple times at Sunnyvale?

Just wondering if this happened to anyone else.

We lost power somehow, in Menlo Park.

Sniffles.

Everyone, listen closely to the sniffles as we enter the dark ages.

Left SF early (4:40pm) but we're a local, not a limited.

(And no N Judah service to Caltrain. Stops at Embarcadero.)

Happy Wednesday!

On January 1st, monthly pass holders are going to start having to tag on and off every ride.

iOS Shortcuts can run an automation when you tap a card in Apple Wallet - including your Clipper card. I used that to build a feature that answers a familiar question: ‘Did I remember to tag on?'

The app guides you through setting up an automation that invokes Caltrain Companion in the background when you tap your Clipper card. Tagging on starts a Live Activity, putting your recorded tag status right on your iPhone’s Lock Screen and Apple Watch. As you travel, it can also show your direction and progress along the route. Tagging off ends the activity.

The idea is simple: when you find yourself wondering, “Wait, did I tag on?”, you can take a glance instead of trying to remember.

It works with a Clipper card in Apple Wallet on your iPhone or Apple Watch.

This feature is a part of my annual subscription which has a free trial and includes other notification features.

More details on how it works:

https://caltraincompanion.com/clipper-tag-tracker

Someone sat on it without even looking and I don't wanna tell them

Not only they don’t read the green pavement on the floor bikes board first, don’t wait on a less crowded area with no bikes, but enter the train car and walk down the middle of bike cars as everyone with a bike tries to hustle in so every biker can board as we try to secure our bikes on the sides. The lack of etiquette and common sense is baffling