San Francisco - Bart to Caltrain transfer time (Millbrae)

I'm heading from the city (Union Sq) to mid-peninsula (PA) Sunday morning, by public transit. I think I figured out schedules such that if I take the second Bart train of the day south (from Powell) I get to Millbrae with 10 minutes to get to the Caltrain track and get my ticket. Or, I take the earlier Bart, and have 30 minutes.

So my question is, are 10 minutes enough to do this, and do the trains run reliably on schedule? I've never been to the Millbrae station (and don't live in the area).

Thanks for advice!

Plenty of time. If you don't have a Caltrain ticket, you'll have to go up an escalator, exit BART, walk about 10 meters, buy a Caltrain ticket, and go down an escalator to the Caltrain tracks. Easy.

Just my 2 cents - I never assume the schedules will be that correct.

Just my 2 cents - I never assume the schedules will be that correct.

But then Caltrain isn't either! Still it's a valid point.

are the weekend Caltrains still all locals (ie no baby bullets)?

The last time I took the exact same journey the OP described on a weekend it took a laughably long time for the distance covered. Zipcar is your friend

Thanks and good point about the travel time. Yes, they are locals. 40 mins from Millbrae to Palo Alto isn't fast, but I have stuff I can do on the train. Still at 9 AM Sunday that would be a 20 minute drive I bet. I've not done Zipcar yet but maybe it is time to learn.

Is there a reason you need to do this transfer? It would be simpler and quicker from Union Square to get to Caltrain Depot (by Muni or by using a cab) and take Caltrain from there.

Can anyone explain if there is any rational explanation for why it costs $8<something> to go to SFO but $4.25 to go to Millbrae, which is further down the line? A BART agent said something about "that's what SFO charges us" - sounds awesomely un-public-transit-friendly for a city like San Francisco. But then again I guess the BART direct connection into SFO was itself an afterthought?

Anyway, the BART trains seemed to run on schedule. Except when they had mechanical problems. Or "small fires". In other words, about as reliable, or not, as most of our mass transit systems.

The extra charge is a BART-added premium which showed up about the time that BART degraded service to SFO from Millbrae. The theory is that tourists will pay it. They give a discount on the extra charge to people who actually work at the airport.

The BART connectors to SFO were definitely not an afterthought. The taxpayers paid plenty to give a direct rail connection. BART later decided that they weren't making enough money to give full service, so they reduced the service and increased the charge to and from SFO.