Caltrain Doubles as Matchmaker When Singles Take a Ride

Caltrain provided the introductions when more than 60 singles took a train ride down the Peninsula in mid-June in an event designed to show how a public transit connection can lead to a love connection.

Caltrain teamed with the Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance and Table for Six to host “Romance on the Rails,” a program which highlights the possibilities for meeting people on the train and encourages people to try transit.

Every year, Caltrain participates in an event sponsored by The Alliance to promote the benefits of public transit. In past years, it has been a race, but this year’s event took a light-hearted look at Caltrain’s potential role as Cupid -- putting passengers on track for romance.

The Alliance’s Executive Director Christine Maley-Grubl said the event demonstrates that taking public transit not only saves money, time and stress but “also provides an added social opportunity that you don’t have as a solo driver.”

The event began with a get-acquainted reception at the San Francisco Caltrain Station, followed by a train ride to Menlo Park and a party at the British Bankers Club.

“I was nervous at the beginning, but now I’m feeling more comfortable,” said Ricardo Valencia, who, like the other participants, was busily filling in a form with questions to facilitate schmoozing, such as finding someone who was born in the same month as he was or drove the same car.

Any reticence the singles might have felt was long gone by the time they boarded the 6:07 p.m. train for a rolling version of “speed dating.” Like a square dance, the gents seated on the aisles, took turns chatting up the women in the window seats before being told to move on to the next row.

Many of the participants said they signed up for Romance on the Rails because it sounded like a fun way to meet people – and if that turned out to be someone special, so much the better.

“I want to meet new people, meet new friends – and also maybe Mr. Right,” said one woman, echoing a common refrain.

Alexis Semanchuk said her brother-in-law, who is a rail fan, had told her about the event and a whole “support structure” of friends made sure she got to the train station on time. She works the graveyard shift so it’s hard to meet people, and had never ridden the train before.

Several of the participants also took home prizes, including a free Caltrain Monthly Pass and dinners and a stay at the Pan Pacific Hotel.

The top prize – a free one-year membership in Table for Six (valued at $1,600) – went to Dan O’Leary, a realty rental agent from San Francisco.

“I just thought it would be a great event,” he said, about why he signed up. “I think the way Caltrain went about it, where everybody had an opportunity to meet each other was great. It’s always tough to meet new people.”

The idea for the program was sparked indirectly when Caltrain released the results of a demographic survey in 2003. News reports trumpeted statistics suggesting particularly favorable odds for single women riders looking for men.

The survey said 53 percent of riders are single men, and one in five Caltrain riders has a household income between $100,000 and $149,999.

Any skeptics about the possibility of meeting one’s match on the train had only to meet Bill Laubenheimer and Carole Parker, who not only met in a Caltrain bike car but got married in one five years ago.

The Sunnyvale couple came along for the ride and had the opportunity to share their love story again and again that night.

Based on the success of this year’s event, Caltrain and the Alliance are considering sponsoring a similar event next year – perhaps for Valentine’s Day.

6/22/05