Caltrain launches new schedule, adds more bike capacity

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Caltrain riders will notice a change in the schedule as the transit agency tries to cope with 60,000 weekday riders.

Ridership is up and Caltrain now operates at or above 100 percent of capacity during peak commute times. That means trains have to wait longer at the platform while everyone boards.

When Caltrain was looking at schedules, they realized the old times didn't reflect the new reality, so today they are adjusting the departure times by a few minutes per train.

For example, a train leaving from Redwood City that has a 6:30 a.m. departure time will be changed to 6:33 a.m. on Monday.

Click here for the new schedule.

Another big change coming on Monday has to do with bike cars. Caltrain is adding an additional bike car to the bombardier-style trains, increasing capacity from 48 bikes to 72.

"Usually during the peak commute times, it will get busy. I've gotten bumped, so adding the extra car will be great," commuter Scott Palmer said.

Caltrain approved the additional bike cars more than a year ago but it's taken until now to add the cars to the fleet.

This has been in the works for more than a year and today there will be a big celebration anyone and everyone is invited to the event. It starts at 8 a.m. at the Caltrain station on 4th and King.