Someday, I will come to believe that running to catch a train isn't worth the effort. Apathy will have won and I'll have fewer tales to tell. Until that day, here is another story involving a mad dash and a plan gone awry.
On the first day of August, the light rail (LRT) extension known as the Vasona Line opened. Currently, it runs as far as the Diridon station in San Jose, which happens to be a transfer point for Caltrain. When completed, it will provide service between Mountain View and Campbell. Yesterday, random curiosity got the better of me and I decided to try it.
After putting in my eight hours at work, I left the office around 4:20 and walked two blocks to my stop. The schedule said the Vasona LRT would arrive at 4:28 and reach Diridon by 4:38, giving me seven minutes, more than enough time, to transfer trains.
I stood on the platform, obsessively checking my watch and the track. At 4:28, the LRT pulled up, but it was the wrong one. It was a Santa Teresa-bound train running a few minutes behind schedule. In the distance, I could see a second train approaching.
The Santa Teresa LRT pulled out and I expected the Vasona to come in immediately behind it. Instead, it didn't pull in for another three minutes. The train was practically empty, only three passengers were onboard.
We reached the next two stops quickly and I began to think we could still reach Diridon with time to spare. I played it out in my head. I would get off the LRT, validate my ticket, walk briskly to the Caltrain platform and be on my way. It would work perfectly.
That's when I realized we still hadn't left the station. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we started moving again. Instead of making its usual left turn (south) towards the Children's Discovery Museum, the LRT went north. We passed under Highway 87, traveled parallel with it for a stretch, branched west along San Fernando and stopped at the station of the same name.
While under construction, I had walked by the station a hundred times, often filled with anticipation, wondering when it would open. Now that it was operational, I was stoked. I don't know if people normally to get this excited about public transportation, but I do, and that worries me.
The LRT stopped briefly to let two women off before accelerating towards the best part of the ride: the tunnel. The tracks began their descent after crossing Autumn Street and reached their full depth under Montgomery. They swept gently to the right, under the Caltrain parking lot, and then turned tightly to the left, resurfacing on the other side of the train station, parallel with the Southern Pacific lines.
While in the tunnel, I almost forgot about the time and it didn't occur to me to check my watch until I stepped off the LRT. It was 4:43. I had two minutes to transfer trains.
I looked around the new platform for the ticket-validating machine, but all I saw was a red sign that read, "Ticket Validator coming soon!" I suddenly found myself in a footrace with the last passenger, a thirty-something salesman. We ran the length of the platform, crossed the LRT tracks and ran down the ramp, through the underground walkway and up the other ramp to the station's validator. Somewhere in the walkway, I ditched my backpack to build a lead on the sprinting salesman.
As soon as I stamped my ticket, I charged back down the ramp, barely missing him as he came the other way. I grabbed my backpack, raced up to the platform and jumped into the first available car. About fifteen seconds later, the salesman made a heroic leap through the doors and the train left the station.
From now on, I think I'll take the 4:13 LRT. I can't wait for the rest of the Vasona Line to open. When it does, I'll be able to make it to downtown Campbell and back in an hour and still have enough time for a twenty-minute meal or coffee break. I hope that it'll be feasible without having to include mad dashes in the plan.
