Caltrain's Hayward Park station to close

Caltrain will run far more trains than its worst-case scenario projections and close just three stations — including Hayward Park in San Mateo — after reaching agreement Monday night with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission to find a short-term solution for the troubled agency.

Caltrain was considering the reduction of weekday trains from 86 to just 48 to run during commute hours only.

Under the agreement with MTC, Caltrain will now be able to run a 76-train weekday schedule by diverting funds from capital projects to operations and with the repayment of a $7 million loan from the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Agency.

Caltrain was also considering the suspension of weekday service at up to seven stations including Bayshore, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Burlingame, Hayward Park, Belmont, San Antonio, Lawrence, Santa Clara and College Park.

Monday night’s agreement will force the closure of just three stations, including Hayward Park just north of State Route 92 in San Mateo.

Even though the reductions are greatly minimized, not everyone is happy with the solution.

San Mateo Councilman David Lim is disappointed Hayward Park is slated to close considering all the transit-oriented development approved for the area including Station Park Green and the Hines Project.

"I’m hoping Caltrain will reconsider closing Hayward Park given the fact these are approved projects,” Lim said.

The other two station closures will be Bayshore in San Francisco and Capitol in Santa Clara County.

"The 76-train proposal is a significant improvement over the worst-case scenario, and there is a lot to like in the new schedule. It actually provides more service to some stations than they have now and it preserves the competitive travel times our customers have come to expect from Caltrain,” Caltrain Executive Director Mike Scanlon wrote in a prepared statement.

He emphasized the fix is only temporary, however.

Monday’s agreement will suspend weekend service at 22nd Street, South San Francisco, Broadway, Belmont, San Carlos, Atherton, California Avenue, San Antonio and Lawrence. The weekend shuttle between the Tamien station and Diridon station will also be suspended, according to Caltrain.

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board is set to meet Thursday to vote on fare hikes and service reductions.

Caltrain lacks a dedicated funding source and relies on contributions from the San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), Santa Clara County’s Valley Transportation Agency and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to survive.

SamTrans is reducing its contribution to Caltrain by about $10 million this year due to its own financial struggles and both VTA and MUNI will follow suit, pushing Caltrain’s deficit to the $30 million mark.

Caltrain’s ridership, however, continues to climb and has one of the healthiest farebox returns of any transit agency in the Bay Area.

In February, Caltrain average weekday ridership was up 4.7 percent compared to last year and total revenue is up for the year by 11.5 percent.

The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board meets 10 a.m., Thursday, April 7, Bacciocco Auditorium, second floor, 1250 San Carlos Ave., San Carlos.