Santa Barbara station

For the light rail station in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, see Santa Barbara station (PAAC).

Santa Barbara station is a passenger rail station in Santa Barbara, California, served by two Amtrak lines, the Coast Starlight and the Pacific Surfliner. The station is fully staffed with ticketing and checked baggage services.

Santa Barbara, CA
Santa Barbara station in 2014
General information
Location	209 State Street Santa Barbara, California United States
Coordinates	34°24′49″N 119°41′33″W
Owned by	Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Barbara
Line(s)	UP Santa Barbara Subdivision[1]
Platforms	1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks	2
Connections	Amtrak Thruway: 10, 17, 21 Santa Barbara MTD: Downtown Shuttle FlixBus Greyhound
Construction
Parking	Yes
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Status	Staffed, station building with waiting room
Station code	Amtrak: SBA
History
Opened	1902
Rebuilt	2000
Original company	Southern Pacific
Passengers
FY 2023	325,490[2] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station San Luis Obispo toward Seattle Coast Starlight Oxnard toward Los Angeles Goleta toward San Luis Obispo Pacific Surfliner Carpinteria toward San Diego
Former services Preceding station Amtrak Following station San Luis Obispo toward Sacramento Spirit of California Oxnard toward Los Angeles Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Samarkand toward San Francisco Coast Line Summerland toward Los Angeles
Southern Pacific Train Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	4 acres (1.6 ha)
Built	1905
Architect	Francis W. Wilson
Architectural style	Mission/Spanish Revival
NRHP reference No.	06000658[3]
Added to NRHP	August 2, 2006
Location

Santa Barbara station is served by ten Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (five in each direction) evenly spaced throughout the day.^[4]

In Fiscal Year 2023, 325,490 passengers boarded or detrained at Santa Barbara station.^[2]

History

Santa Barbara station in a 1910 postcard

The station in 2007 after renovation in 2000

The station was built in 1902 by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the Spanish Mission Revival Style. Design work was by Santa Barbara architect Francis W. Wilson.^[5] It is located within walking distance of Santa Barbara Harbor, Stearns Wharf and State Street, Santa Barbara's main thoroughfare. The historic depot was renovated in 2000; the project included the restoration of the ticket office and upgrades to the plumbing, electrical and heating and cooling systems.^[6]

For most of the first decade of the Amtrak era, the station was only served by the Coast Starlight, which ran southbound during the evening rush and northbound at lunchtime. In 1988, Amtrak and Caltrans extended the San Diegan, previously a Los Angeles-San Diego service, to Santa Barbara, providing an additional round trip between the Central Coast and Los Angeles. Eventually, service was extended to nearby Goleta and later all the way to San Luis Obispo, resulting in the route being rebranded as the Pacific Surfliner in 2000.

Due to the length of the platform, when Amtrak's Coast Starlight train is stopped, it blocks the two streets to the north and south of the depot.^[7]

The station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 2006.^[3]

References

1. SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 15.
2. "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal Year 2023: State of California" (PDF). Amtrak. March 2024. Retrieved June 26, 2024.
3. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
4. "Pacific Surfliner Timetable" (PDF). Pacific Surfliner. October 6, 2023. Retrieved November 6, 2023.
5. Starr, Kevin (1991). Material Dreams: Southern California Through the 1920s. Oxford University Press. p. 260. ISBN 978-0-19-507260-0.
6. Great American Stations. Accessed February 20, 2013.
7. "Train Web: Santa Barbara".

External links

Media related to Santa Barbara station at Wikimedia Commons

• Santa Barbara, CA – Amtrak
• Santa Barbara, CA – Station history at Great American Stations (Amtrak)
• SantaBarbara.com Train Station Guide