When I was working at PayPal in San Jose, I was always amazed with the people that were commuting from the city on CalTrain. The idea of spending the time it takes to watch a feature-length movie on a rickety train getting to work each day makes me cringe.
Then CalTrain came up wih an express schedule and had the audacity to call it the "baby bullet".
Please.
The only bullet associated with this "express" is the one I'd put through my head if I had to ride it everyday. Even a tongue-in-cheek connection with Japan's Shinkansen -- aka Bullet Train -- is a crime.
So the last time I was in Japan, I took a 30 second video of a typical Shinkansen trip from the passenger's view, to show these SF commuters what they were missing. This is taken from a Hikari, which is not even their fastest train in service (the Nozomi).
No tricks, this is actual cruising speed at around 175mph. Turn up the volume. Hear that? No lurching of cars churning down the track. The turbine whine and air rushing past the cabin is all you hear. You can have a quiet conversation, while snacking on the bento and sake you just bought from the service cart. You may as well be on a jet.
Even the train-type names are poetic: Kodama, Hikari, Nozomi ("Echo", "Light", and "Hope").
So say what you like about CalTrain's (cough) express service.
Just don't call it a "bullet".