July 01, 2005

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Publication Date: Friday, July 01, 2005

News Briefs

Even if Charley had one more nickel, he could not get off of this train.

The thousands of people who get on and off at the San Antonio and Downtown Caltrain stations each day will pay more for that privilege starting Friday. According to Caltrain staff, a tiered increase averaging 17.5 percent across the board will mean an additional charge of a quarter for each zone passengers ride through.

For example, one-way trips between Sunnyvale and Atherton (Zone 3) will go up 25 cents to $2. The price of a trip to San Francisco (Zone 1) will increase from $4.25 to $5.

Caltrain officials say the fare increase is necessary to help bridge a huge budget deficit totaling more than $13 million. It comes in conjunction with a new schedule which will eliminate all local trains in favor of semi-express trains. That means fewer trains will stop at the two stations in Mountain View, but the average travel times for commuters will be shorter.

The new schedule and fares are posted at www.caltrain.org. -- Jon Wiener

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