Caltrain to add more cars to rush-hour trains

Caltrain next week will add an extra car to some rush-hour trains to alleviate overcrowding.

The San Francisco-area commuter railroad will add an extra car to trains 220, 272 and 278, which typically operate with five-car consists. However, they'll now be six cars long, which will allow them to carry 200 additional passengers, Caltrain officials said in a press release.

The extra cars will be "Gallery" units, which feature two passenger levels and a box design. The cars will go into service Nov. 14.

Caltrain's ridership has increased significantly recently, with average weekday counts rising to more than 60,000 passengers this year. In 2010, the average weekday ridership came in at more than 36,000 passengers.

In 2015, Caltrain added a sixth car to each of its Bombardier train sets, which increased capacity by 150 passengers on several busy lines. And earlier this year, Caltrain replaced some of its five-car Gallery train sets with six-car Bombardier ones to allow for added capacity.