Gilroy Could Say Goodbye to Caltrain In Six Months

Facing a $30 million deficit, Caltrain has proposed cutting all trains south of San Jose to Gilroy, ending weekend service and nearly halving the number of trains that run every day when its new fiscal year begins in July, according to the agency.

“Hopefully, we will be able to come up with additional funding sources before we are forced to implement drastic service changes,” said Caltrain Executive Director Michael J. Scanlon, in a press release

Gilroy will host one of four forums on Caltrain’s “fiscal emergency” at 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at the Senior Center on 7371 Hannah St., according to the release.

Several agencies work together to fund Caltrain and form the Penninsula Joint Powers Board, including the city of San Francisco, SamTrans and VTA. Samtrans alone is expected to reduce its annual contribution by $10 million this year, following a reduction last year that caused a 25-cent fare increase and reduction in trains and staffing, according to the release.

Three trains operate in Gilroy every weekday, linking riders to the cities along the peninsula. Ticket cost depends on distance traveled: A round-trip ticket to San Francisco from Gilroy is $25, and one to San Jose is $13.

Riding from San Jose requires passing through two more “zones,” making travel to Morgan Hill and Gilroy on the limited number of trains more expensive than traveling between cities farther north.

For many, like three-year Caltrain commuter Jason Gentry, the stress-free ride between Gilroy and his job in Santa Clara makes a little extra cost worth it.

“It’s still cheaper than driving a car,” Gentry, a building inspector for the city of Santa Clara, said.

In a former job, Gentry said he had to drive back and forth from Hollister to the Peninsula every day. He would come home “not wanting to talk to anybody,” but he has seen his quality of life improve since he started riding the train.

“I love Caltrain," Gentry said. "It’s a tight-knit community, with the riders you see every day. If it stopped coming to Gilroy, I would almost think of getting a different job.”

Some 40,000 people ride Caltrain during the week on 86 trains, according to the release. Hourly trains run north of San Jose for most of the weekend.

“It should come as no surprise that we’re against it,” said Don Dey, Gilroy's city transportation engineer.

Dey said that, with the building of high-speed rail, Gilroy is expected to become a hub for public transportation in the long term.

“If you project into the future 20 to 30 years, there will definitely be a significant change," he said. "We want Caltrain to be a part of that change.” 

While the high-speed rail will be able to race Gilroyans to some of the Peninsula's cities, Caltrain would stop at the ones in-between, Dey said.

When Gilroy’s Downtown Specific Plan was completed in 2006, officials expected Caltrain ridership to grow with an increasing residential population. The Valley Transportation Authority estimated there would be 2,300 commuters from the Gilroy station in 2006 and 3,000 in 2030.

The widening of Highway 101 in 2003 may have lead to a decrease in the train’s popularity, however. Daily ridership at the Gilroy station peaked at 569 in 2001, experiencing a gradual decline to 119 in 2010, according to Caltrain’s annual ridership study.

In the current VTA Connections newsletter, VTA General Manager Michael T. Burns wrote that his agency was not planning to reduce its funding of Caltrain but could not afford to bridge the budget gap.

He offered several suggestions for funding the deficit, including selling San Jose’s Diridon Station and holding off on a project to electrify the system.

“Unquestionably, service reductions of this magnitude would seriously impact transportation in the Bay Area, worsening congestion and creating hardship for residents along the Peninsula,” he wrote.

Further proposed cuts include eliminating trains for special events, cutting seven stations north of San Jose and another 25-cent fare increase.

Even if there was only one train a day, Gentry said he would arrange his schedule so he could ride it.

“It would truly break my heart if it was gone,” he said.

The Caltrain board of directors will have its next meeting March 3, 10 a.m., at 1250 San Carlos Ave. in San Carlos.

Members of the public can send their comments to the Penninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board at changes@caltrain.com. They can also call 800-660-4287 (TDD is 650-508-6448). The board will also receive mail at:

District Secretary

Caltrain P.O. Box 3006

San Carlos, Ca 94070