Traffic & Transit

Caltrain Offers Early Morning Service to Bay to Breakers

Caltrain will be running extra service May 20.

From Caltrain: For over a century, runners, cosplayers and springtime revelers have made Bay to Breakers a distinctively San Francisco institution. Caltrain will be running extra service this coming Sunday, May 20, so Peninsula and South Bay residents can make it to the starting line of the 2018 Alaska Airlines Bay to Breakers before the starter pistol goes off.

Caltrain will run four special northbound trains with limited stops to the race. Three trains will depart from San Jose Diridon Station at 5:50 a.m., 6 a.m. and 6:15 a.m., and arrive at the San Francisco Caltrain Station at 7:10 a.m., 7:25 a.m., and 7:40 a.m. respectively. An additional train will depart the Palo Alto Caltrain Station from the southbound platform at 6:10 a.m. and will arrive at the San Francisco Caltrain Station at7 a.m.

The race begins at 8 a.m. and the starting line is about 1.4 miles from the San Francisco Caltrain Station. Participants can walk to the starting line or take the Muni’s T-third light-rail service.

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Alcohol will be prohibited on all of the special trains, and Bay to Breakers prohibits both alcohol and floats.

Following the race, three express trains to Belmont will depart the San Francisco station at 1:15 p.m., 1:45 p.m. and 2:45 p.m. and then will make regular local weekend stops to San Jose Diridon. Regular weekend service will also be running with trains departing every 90 minutes.

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Caltrain is a proof-of-payment system: tickets aren’t sold onboard trains but can be purchased at ticket machines at the stations. In order to avoid the long lines that often accompany this event, passengers are encouraged to buy a Day Pass or utilize the Caltrain Mobile ticketing app. Riders can also pre-purchase a ticket at any Caltrain Ticket Vending Machine. Clipper card users are reminded to tag on and tag off.

Parking at Caltrain stations costs $5.50 for the day, and permits can be purchased through ticket machines onsite. Paid parking rules are enforced throughout the day.

For schedule and fare information for Caltrain, or for help planning your trip, call 1-800-660-4287 (TTY 650-508-6448) or visit www.caltrain.com.

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