South San Francisco Caltrain

This station has a super sketchy feel because there are only a couple of dim, yellow street lamps and it’s in a more industrial area. I would feel more at ease if there was more bright, LED lighting. I would honestly not recommend this stop unless you are getting off in the morning with the work crowd and/​or leaving with everyone else around 5 – 7 pm.

Do not drive and park here. My girlfriend and I used this lot for parking last night. We went to the giants game. When we got back, around 8 – 12 cars had their windows broken in, ours included. The sherrif’s were there, waiting for everyone to get back in case anyone wanted to file an insurance claim.
The thing is, so many cars were broken into that I doubt whoever did this had the time to look in every car and search for goods or property to steal.
It was probably mostly done for the sake of vandalizing property.
There’s no bathrooms, very hard to access, and I doubt very many people even use this hole. It looks like a place where you’d meet someone to hire to murder your wife.
Word of advice: Use another station! Follow the advice of so many others reiterating this: Do. Not. Stop. Here.
If you must use it, don’t park your vehicles here, and use it during the day.

It’s a serviceable train station that has somewhat easy access to two nearby hotels and a business center. $ 3.00 one way or $ 6.00 for a day pass will get you to San Francisco from here, dropping you off within a couple blocks of AT&T Park. Is it a little sketchy feeling as others have commented? Absolutely — but I think that’s largely because it’s under an overpass and there are usually cars from cargo trains sitting idly here. In my week using this station I only encountered one homeless man who seemed to be keeping to himself and one kid who looked hungover, but also didn’t seem to bother anyone. To make it feel safer, there should be better lighting at night and a police patrol once in a while like I have seen at other stations — not once did I notice any law enforcement here.

My first CalTrain ride!
Be a little early to secure your ticket (if you don’t have a pass). Once the train comes, it won’t wait for you. Spending another hour waiting for the next train is no fun.
Sketchy «station». I don’t suggest catching the train here at night.
Old fashion… they do check your tickets inside — how fun!

DO NOT get off at this stop at night unless it’s an absolute must. This has to be the most sketchy «station» out of all the Caltrain stops. Note the quotation marks around «station» — there are maybe two benches, ticket booths, and the railway underneath an overpass covered in graffiti and trash. They don’t even have taxis waiting because the area is so deserted.
I got off here with my girlfriend last night around 8:30pm to visit our friend who lives close by in Brisbane. I’m surprised we didn’t get mugged. We were the only passengers to get off here on a packed train, and the others probably thought we were crazy… two young girls at the SSF station when it’s dark out. We had to wait at the station for 10+ minutes for our cab, and were praying we weren’t going to be victims of something.
I guess the trains don’t stop here as often, either…
The only positives that I can think of are that it’s close to the freeway, and being that there are pretty much nothing but the ticket booths and one Caltrain railway, you don’t get confused on where to go /​which side to wait on.

The SSF station is not an easy one to spot since it’s located under an over pass and trains do not stop here as often as it does at some of the other stops. The location has daily parking for $ 5/​day and has lockers for bike storage. Since the stop is more open, there aren’t any arm gates to prevent you from crossing as trains approach. Always use the walkways and be mindful when crossing the tracks.

Holy sketchballs. Do not stop here unless absolutely necessary. This is a halfassed «station» with some really unsavory people hanging out around the trains, probably to mug you the second you’re not paying attention. I just jumped right back on Caltrain. No thank you.

OMG of all the Caltrain stations I’ve ever been too, this has got to be one of the worst, if not the worst. There’s no «real» station here and it’s located under some dinky highway overpass. Super sketchy looking and it’s dimly lit. As I’m writing this review waiting for my friend, I can’t help but seriously look left and right every couple seconds for any creepy weirdos around!!! Wahhh. I would definitely not stop here anytime past 6 PM. Especially not on my own. I would avoid this Caltrain station if possible!

South San Francisco Station is one of the quiet stations in the Caltrain System. There was nothing too creepy when I got of Caltrain here earlier this afternoon (around 3:23 pm)! I take Caltrain at random times but I don’t normally get on and off the train at this station.
Pros:
— a parking lot available
— two ticket vending machines available
Cons:
— Select Limited Stop and Local Service Trains stop here
— NO BABY BULLET SERVICE
*Please be extra careful and vigilant of your surroundings*

Went here with my friend once. We got off at the wrong stop, thinking that SSF would be relatively okay to stop at. Boy, were we mistaken!
As we meandered through the stink of the dinky «station» some creepy old guy in a
car mysteriously asked if we needed help. He seemed alright, but it was kind of sketchy how he didn’t get on either of the two trains that passed while we waited there.
Do not recommend. GTFO!
Side note: This was like the middle of the day and it was still really creepy.
AVOID

Only took Caltrain once to Palo Alto from this station around 11am on a weekday a few years ago. From the current reviews the station is unchanged. Accessing the station by foot is hard to do and I asked a guy who spoke Spanish to help me. After crossing the wide road and walking on a path next to a highway overpass, you cross the traffic and descend down some stairs. Once down there I was in shock, its just a mess! Crumbling platforms, dim lighting, no people around, you feel like your in a rail yard. I was a little nervous but it was daytime and I was in CA (I’m from NYC so I have street smarts). Buying my ticket was easy, but I realized there was the narrowest island platform and rails everywhere. You have to stand on a set of rails to wait for the train! One nice thing is that they an old freight engine off to the side. Well my train arrived on time and my trip was lovely, smooth, and pretty fast considering it was a local. Didn’t realize this station has a ‘hold out’ rule! So only one train can enter the station at any given time. How can they maintain adequate service with this limitation? So this is the bad part of town? Doesn’t seem to bad to me…

So usually when you think «under an overpass» you think not so plesant things. The SSf cal train station is not a place to be if you are a single woman by yourself. I give this warning due to the fact that it is dimly lit, in a bad area of town, parking is terrible, machines break often, and you can see the bike lockers are broken into an a regular basis. It is also not a bullet schedule. The only perk to this location is the oyster point shuttles that take you away from potential kidnappings and other unplesant possiblities.

Stayed in San Francisco for 5 days and I swear all 5 days this damn train was never on time running around 10 – 15 minutes late. There is a booth to buy your tickets and some benches, but literally that is all. Getting off at this station at night, yikes man, place feels unsafe, watch your surroundings
The plus side is its cheaper than taking a taxi into the city, and its only about a 20 minute ride in

Holy sketch-​o-​rama. The first time we caught the CalTrain from this station, I was pretty surprised. I was expecting, you know, an actual STATION of some sort. Instead, there’s a shady old parking lot under an overpass, a little booth-​thingy where you can buy tickets, and a lot of trash blowing around. Oh and creepy guys giving you the hairy wall-​eye.
I like CalTrain itself way better than Bart — the trains are exponentially less stinky and the system is pretty useful for getting into the city. So CalTrain as an institution gets an honorary 4 star rating in my mind… but the SSF station is gross and scary and made me feel like I should be a 1930’s hobo with patches on my elbows and a bandanna-​on-​a-​stick slung over my shoulder containing a can of beans, a pack of Lucky Strikes, and some Sterno.

They have done some work to make it nicer lately, much better then the days when it was a sketch gravel parking lot and some tracks. I usually hop on here for the giants games