Caltrain

Did you know it is against Caltrain policy to assist Ladies (or men) with strollers?  They will assist people with limited mobility but not parents with strollers.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with Caltrain, the reason accessibility is an issue at all is because there is a steep set of stairs immediately upon entering the train. Now this isn't a big problem if you are using an umbrella stroller and only have one baby: fold the light weight stroller, carry it with one hand and your child with the other.  But what if you are not using a small stroller or have multiple children or both?

Tough luck.

Though you will not see it on there website, when I asked a Caltrain employee to assist me with getting my large stroller onto the train I was told that it was against Caltrain policy, but he would help me just this once.  Now you might be wondering why I chose to use a large stroller when small strollers are so much more convenient when taking any form of public transportation.

Well the sad truth of the matter is I can't drive.  I failed the DMV vision test (with my glasses on).  So driving is not an option for me.  However my husband can drive, (he was the one dropping me off at the train station) and my friend whom I was taking the train to go see can drive (she was the one picking me up).  So with cars on both ends of this trip I needed to have my son's car seat with me.  And it's not possible to hook up our car seat to an umbrella stroller.  So I needed to use the big stroller to carry the car seat.

I suppose I would not have needed to bring the car seat if I had taken the bus after taking the train and walking the rest of the way.  But that would have added an hour (minimum) to my travel time (each direction).

Now not all trains are as problematic as Caltrain.  BART for example has elevators to take you from the ticket area to the train platform and once on the platform the train lines up flush with it.  This makes it easier for wheels of any sort to board / disembark from the train.  They even have the ground painted to let you know where the train doors will be (and the do their best to line up the train with them).  Where as Caltrain has areas that look like they would be helpful in boarding the train (ramps leading up and handicapped waiting areas) but I have NEVER seen a Caltrain train line up with them.  It is up to an employee on the train to visually asses if you are the sort of person they are supposed to assist as the train rolls into the station.

All and all it was a vexing experience that I do not intend to repeat any time soon.