next_trainsLABSCO SUMMARY
It reads the published timetable, and it is forgiving about how you name a station.
Answers come from the GTFS files Caltrain publishes — stops, trips, stop times and the service calendar — so this is the schedule, not live train positions. The station matching is what makes it usable in conversation: sf resolves to San Francisco and diridon to San Jose Diridon without you spelling either out.
What it is
A Caltrain schedule server built on Caltrain's own GTFS feed. It answers departure questions between any two stations on the line.
What you get
- Upcoming departures between two stations — next_trains, with an optional when_iso for a specific time
- All 31 Caltrain stations, from San Francisco to Gilroy — list_stations
- Forgiving station matching: full names, short names, abbreviations like sf, and partial matches like diridon
- Weekday and weekend service handled through the GTFS calendar
Requirements
Nothing beyond an MCP client: uvx caltrain-mcp installs and runs the published package. Running from source instead needs uv sync and a GTFS fetch through scripts/fetch_gtfs.py.
Setup effort
One command — uvx caltrain-mcp
USE CASES
01
Deciding when to leave
Ask for the next departures between where you are and where you are going.
02
Planning a trip for a specific time
Pass the time you want to travel and get the departures around it.
03
Checking which stations exist
List all 31 stops before guessing at a name.
2 tools
Listed in project docs. Your client may show a different list.
list_stationsBEFORE YOU INSTALL
What to know first
Tools you get
2 tools named in the project's documentation.
Requires
uvx on PATH
Where it runs
The documented client runs the server on your machine.
INSTALLATION
Connect your client
Server setup
TERMINAL
uvx caltrain-mcpMCP Clients
Claude Desktop
CLAUDE DESKTOP · JSON
{
"mcpServers": {
"caltrain": {
"command": "uvx",
"args": [
"caltrain-mcp"
]
}
}
}
