Courthouse station (San Diego Trolley)

Courthouse station is a light rail station in San Diego, California. It is the western terminus of the San Diego Trolley's Orange Line and is located between the Hall of Justice and San Diego Central Courthouse in downtown San Diego, on C Street between State and Union streets. The station opened on April 29, 2018, after nearly a year of construction.

Courthouse
Courthouse station, 2024
General information
Location	330 West C Street San Diego, California United States
Coordinates	32°43′00″N 117°09′58″W
Owned by	San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
Operated by	San Diego Trolley
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Accessible
Other information
Station code	75019[1]
History
Opened	April 29, 2018 (2018-04-29)[2]
Services
Preceding station San Diego Trolley Following station Terminus Orange Line Civic Center towards El Cajon      Blue Line does not stop here      Silver Line does not stop here
Location

History

As the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) wrapped up its Trolley Renewal Project, the transit agency embarked on a realignment of the trolley lines in downtown San Diego. With three trolley lines now sharing the tracks in the area, problems quickly popped up. At the beginning of the realignment in September 2012, Orange Line trains terminated at Santa Fe Depot, sharing the same track as the southbound Green Line.^[3] In June 2017, the Orange Line terminus was moved to America Plaza, the northern terminus of the Blue Line, forcing complicated switching procedures that often delayed trains on both lines as they entered or exited the station.^[4][5] MTS feared that the extension of the Blue Line to UCSD would only compound issues in the area.

The solution proposed by the MTS was a dedicated western terminus for the Orange Line to serve as a convenient layover for Orange Line trains. The transit agency chose to build the station three blocks east of America Plaza, between the Hall of Justice and San Diego Central Courthouse, which at the time was about to begin construction. Top court officials and San Diego County Sheriff Bill Gore opposed the station, saying that it would jeopardize the safety and security of the courthouse.^[6] In response, MTS did make some changes to the station design, including adding a fence to separate the station from a court parking lot and feeding the station's security cameras into the courthouse security system.

MTS received a $31.9 million grant from the state government's cap and trade program in 2015 to fund the Courthouse station project and a vehicle replacement program.^[7] Construction on the station began in August 2017, requiring multiple weekend shutdowns of the Orange Line.^[8] After nearly a year of construction, Courthouse station was dedicated by local officials on April 27, 2018, and opened to passengers on April 29.^[2][9]

Station layout

Orange Line trains reach Courthouse station using a single siding track and passengers board and alight using a single side platform, while Blue and Silver line trains bypass the station on the two main tracks.

Westbound main track	←  Blue Line does not stop here
Eastbound main track	→  Blue Line does not stop here → →  Silver Line does not stop here →
Eastbound station track	→  Orange Line toward El Cajon (Civic Center) →
Side platform

References

1. "Schedules & Real Time". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
2. "New Courthouse Trolley Station Opening Sunday" (Press release). San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. April 27, 2018. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
3. "SDMTS Service Changes, September 2012". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. September 2, 2012. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
4. "Orange Line Service Moves to America Plaza". San Diego Metropolitan Transit System. June 1, 2017. Retrieved February 16, 2021.
5. Cook, Morgan (August 24, 2015). "Trolley posteriors raise downtown ire". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
6. Moran, Greg (October 20, 2017). "Court, sheriff opposed MTS plan to build a trolley station at courthouse". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
7. Connors, Tarcy (July 1, 2015). "MTS Receives $31.9 Million for New Courthouse Trolley Station, Light-Rail Vehicles". San Diego Business Journal. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
8. Wrath, Gary (October 20, 2017). "Orange Line Trolley work to last to summer 2018". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2018.
9. Alvarez, Elizabeth (April 29, 2018). "New courthouse trolley station begins serving passengers Sunday". KUSI. Retrieved July 7, 2018.