Caltrain ridership increased by nearly five percent in November, according to agency documents.

An average of 39,036 weekday riders traveled on the commuter rail system last month, a 4.4 percent improvement from November 2009 totals. Caltrain officials attribute some of the increase to crowds attending the Giants’ World Series victory parade on Nov. 3 in San Francisco.

Along with its ridership increases, Caltrain reported advances in its on-time performance levels. Last month, trains arrived on schedule 93.9 percent of the time, nearly two percentage points higher than November 2009’s rate of 92.0 percent.

Last month’s on-time arrival rate was lower than the agency’s stated goal of 95 percent, but if the crowd-related delays from the World Series parade are taken out of the equation, Caltrain actually sported a 94.9 percent on-time rate for November 2010.

wreisman@sfexaminer.com