Directions please

OK. I admit it. Haven't been to the Bay area since I was a very young youngster.

I'm going to attend a conference in San Jose and am working on flights. I'm finding more options for Oakland and SFO than for San Jose's airport.

And loving trains, I admit I wouldn't mind taking one from a slightly more distant airport to San Jose if it's practical, safe and affordable.

I've looked at CalTrain website but can't figure out how direct the link is at SFO.

What are the best options and what should I avoid? Cost and time? Arriving on a Tuesday. Returning to the airport on a Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks in advance.

(And, no, I can't start on the train in Chicago. The company won't spring for a Superliner sleeper.)

SFO to San Jose is simple: peoplemover to the BART, which runs every 15 minutes (?) from the SFO International terminal to Millbrae, takes maybe 5 minutes, costs $1.50 or did it go up already? Close to that, anyway. Get Caltrain from Millbrae. Take a look at their online timetable before you get here.

You know Caltrain is proof-of-payment? So you can buy a one-way ticket, but there's no such thing as a round-trip ticket-- instead there's a daypass, good for unlimited travel between the chosen zones for the date of purchase. Costs twice the one-way fare, so a great deal for fans. Per-mile fare is probably already less than you're used to.

Oakland to San Jose isn't so easy. $2 for the AirBART bus to BART, BART to Fremont, VTA #180 bus to San Jose from there. Total maybe 80 minutes plus connection time.

Thanks. Would Amtrak from OAK to San Jose make sense?

I believe that I read of a new Amtrak stop near the Oakland Coliseum BART station. Some research should uncover this, and if that is so, you can take the airBART bus from the Oakland airport to the BART station, and the Amtrak platform would be right across the street from BART.

There is an Amtrak stop at Oakland Coliseum the connection to head to San Jose might work if your arrival time is close to then one of the trains to San Jose runs.

As you see at http://www.amtrakcapitols.com/#, four trains each weekday Oakland to San Jose. Depending where you're actually headed in San Jose, Amtrak may be no faster than BART plus bus. BART is $3 Oakland Coliseum to Fremont, sched 26 minutes, eight trains an hour midday weekday. Bus Fremont to San Jose is $3.50, sched 40 minutes to downtown, runs about 30 minutes apart midday weekday.

As I recall it's 200-300 meters from the BART station (where the AirBART from Oakland Airport drops you off) to the Amtrak station.