Caltrain ticket machine

From Transit.Wiki

Caltrain tvm.jpg

All Caltrain ticket machines sell:

  • One way ticket
  • Day pass
  • Monthly parking permit - with purchase of a monthly pass
  • Daily parking permit
  • Zone upgrade

Some Caltrain ticket machines (those to the right in the picture above with bigger touch screen) sell new Clipper cards and can add values and passes onto existing Clipper cards. They are available only at selected stations.

See Caltrain fares for specific information.

Caltrain ticket machines however do sell monthly parking permits to Clipper cardholders with a valid 8-ticket or monthly pass. To buy the parking permit you'll need to enter the serial number of your Clipper card first to verify eligibility. The ticket machines do not verify your purchase instantly. It takes one day to load your purchase information from Clipper onto the ticket machine.

The machines accept:

  • Coins
  • Bills
  • Debit and credit cards (Visa, MasterCard and Discover)

The machines will give change in coins (including $1 coins) only.

Although the ticket machines are relatively easy to use, it may take more than one try to get the machine to accept bills and credit cards. Caltrain already accepts Clipper for fare payment, which you can use to pay the fare without having to use the machines.

How to use

  1. Determine which station and fare zone you're planning to travel
  2. Look at the screen and select ticket type
  3. Select your destination zone
  4. Select the number of tickets
  5. You can either buy additional ticket types, or select "Press to purchase"
  6. Pay by cash or credit/debit card
  7. Pick up your ticket