Caltrain to increase base fare by 25 cents

SAN CARLOS – Caltrain is bumping up its base fare by 25 cents starting early next week.

The hike, which takes effect Tuesday, comes amid projections the commuter rail line will run an annual deficit of nearly $75 million between fiscal year 2027 and fiscal year 2035.

“Without an injection of funding from a regional sales tax measure or other external sources, Caltrain will need to explore drastic service reductions, station closures and administrative cost reductions,” the agency said in a news release Friday.

Caltrain said it is cutting internal costs and investigating new revenue strategies to address the deficit, as well as working with regional and state partners to secure outside funding.

In 2022, the agency adopted an updated fare structure that included a slate of hikes and changes. Two of those increases, a 50-cent base fare bump and an increase of the monthly pass trip multiplier from 24 trips to 30, were set to take effect July 1, 2023. Both were delayed to avoid discouraging ridership during the post-pandemic recovery.

Caltrain said it is running its highest ever service levels with 104 trains per weekday, and “more weekend service than ever before.”

“Since the launch of electric service, Caltrain has seen substantial ridership gains, with the agency seeing a 55% increase in ridership in May 2025 vs. May 2024,” the agency said.