List of Caltrain stations

Caltrain is a commuter rail transit system that serves the San Francisco Peninsula and the Santa Clara Valley in the U.S. state of California. It is operated under contract by TransitAmerica Services and funded jointly by the City and County of San Francisco, San Mateo County Transit District (SamTrans), and Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) through the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB). The system's average mid-weekday ridership is 65,095 as of February 2018.^[1][2]

The current Caltrain system map

The original railroad between San Francisco and San Jose (known as the Peninsula Commute) was built by the San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in 1863.^[3][4] In 1870 the railroad was acquired by Southern Pacific.^[3] Southern Pacific double tracked the line in 1904. In 1958 the railroad had record ridership, 7.5 million passengers.^[5] The popularity of the railroad began to decline and in 1977 Southern Pacific petitioned to the state government to discontinue Peninsula Commute.^[3][4] After months of negotiation, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) reached an agreement with the three counties of which the Peninsula Commute ran through to continue rail operation.^[3] Under the agreement, the system was renamed Caltrain and operation responsibilities were shared by Caltrans, Southern Pacific and the three counties.^[3] The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board was formed in 1987, and it bought the right of way of Caltrain from Southern Pacific in late 1991 for $220 million.^[3][4][5] The PCJPB formally took over the operation of Caltrain in 1992 and contracted Amtrak to operate the system. In the same year, Caltrain extended to Gilroy.^[6] Amtrak's contract with PCJPB was renewed in 2001.^[3]

The system has 31 stations. 28 stations are served daily, one (Broadway) is served on weekends and holidays only, one (College Park) is served via two round trips on weekdays only, and one (Stanford) is served on Stanford University's football game days only on weekends. San Francisco 4th and King Street is the northern terminus of the system, while Gilroy is the southern terminus. The five southernmost stations—Capitol, Blossom Hill, Morgan Hill, San Martin, and Gilroy—are served only on weekdays during commute times by select trains.^[7][8][9] Sixteen stations are served by the limited train service. Eleven stations are served by the express train service, inaugurated in 2004.^[6] Seven stations (Millbrae,^[a] Burlingame, San Carlos, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and San Jose Diridon) are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^[11]

Of the 31 stations in the system, 27 of them are accessible. The four stations that are not accessible are in order from north to south, 22nd Street, Broadway, Stanford, and College Park.^[12] The weekend and holiday-only Broadway station is planned to be completely rebuilt; upon completion, it would be ADA-compliant.^[13] The non-accessible Atherton station was closed on December 13, 2020.^[14] Of the four non-accessible stations in the system, only 22nd Street sees regular service. A plan to add ADA-compliant ramps to the station is currently being considered.^[15]

Stations

	Limited stations
	Limited and Express stations
	South County Connector stations
	Select trip only stations
	Transfer stations with other rail systems
	ADA compliant stations

Fare zone	Mile[b]	Location	Station	Abb.	2018 Weekday ridership	Connections/Notes	Image
1	0.2	San Francisco	San Francisco	SFK	15,427	Muni Metro:
	1.9		22nd Street	TWE	1,977
	5.2	San Francisco / Brisbane	Bayshore	BAY	247
	9.3	South San Francisco	South San Francisco	SSF	468
	11.6	San Bruno	San Bruno	SBR	695
2	13.7	Millbrae	Millbrae	MIL	3,340	BART:  R  (before 9pm)  Y  (after 9pm)
	15.2	Burlingame	Broadway[c]	BWY	114 (Sat & Sun)	Weekend and holiday service only.
	16.3		Burlingame	BUR	1,104
	17.9	San Mateo	San Mateo	SMT	2,291
	19.1		Hayward Park	HPK	583
	20.3		Hillsdale	HIL	3,229
	21.9	Belmont	Belmont	BEL	780
	23.2	San Carlos	San Carlos	SCS	1,331
	25.4	Redwood City	Redwood City	RWC	4,212
3	28.9	Menlo Park	Menlo Park	MPK	1,728
	30.1	Palo Alto	Palo Alto	PAL	7,764
	30.8		Stanford	STF	—	Select weekend trains on game days only.
	31.8		California Avenue	CAL	1,693
	34.1	Mountain View	San Antonio	SAT	943
	36.1		Mountain View	MVW	4,810	VTA light rail:
	38.8	Sunnyvale	Sunnyvale	SUN	3,364
4	40.8 Caltrain		Lawrence	LAW	949
	44.7	Santa Clara	Santa Clara	SCL	1,097	Amtrak: Capitol Corridor Altamont Corridor Express
	46.3	San Jose	College Park[c]	CPK	108	Two daily round trips only.
	47.5		San Jose Diridon	SJD	4,876	Amtrak: Capitol Corridor, Coast Starlight Altamont Corridor Express VTA light rail:
	49.1		Tamien	TAM	1,286	VTA light rail: Limited local service.
5	52.4 UPRR		Capitol	CAP	78
	55.7 UPRR		Blossom Hill	BHL	146
6	67.5 UPRR	Morgan Hill	Morgan Hill	MHL	237
	71.2 UPRR	San Martin	San Martin	SMR	87
	77.4 UPRR	Gilroy	Gilroy	GIL	252

Closed stations

Mile[b]	Station	Closed	Fare zone	Location	Notes
4.1	Paul Avenue	2005	1	San Francisco	Closed due to low ridership.[16]
8.6	Butler Road	1983	1	South San Francisco	Closed due to the closure of the adjoining steel mill.[17][18]
20.0	Bay Meadows	2005	2	San Mateo	Consolidated with Hillsdale station.[19]
27.8	Atherton	2020	3	Atherton	Closed due to low ridership and the hold-out rule.[20]
34.9	Castro	2000	3	Mountain View	Replaced by San Antonio station.[21]

Notes

1. Millbrae station's original depot and platforms were closed in 2003 when Caltrain relocated to the new Millbrae Intermodal Terminal just to the north. The depot now houses the Millbrae Train Museum.^[10]
2. Station mileposts are based on track distance from the former 3rd and Townsend Southern Pacific Depot 0.2 miles northeast of the current San Francisco station. Actual station distances south of Lawrence station no longer match the given mileposts (e.g. current track distance from San Francisco to the San Jose station is 46.8 miles).
3. At this station, Caltrain applies a "hold-out rule": a train cannot enter the station when a train on the other track is stopped at the station for passengers.

References

General

• "Caltrain Stations". Caltrain. Archived from the original on 2011-06-11. Retrieved 2011-05-28.

Specific

1. "Caltrain 2018 Annual Passenger Count: Key Findings" (PDF). Caltrain. February 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2018.
2. Prior to 2018, Caltrain counted "average weekday ridership" by counting riders on all weekday (Monday through Friday) trains for one week and computing the average as the sum of all riders over one week divided by five. In 2018, Caltrain shifted to counting "average mid-weekday ridership" by counting riders on trains on two of the three mid-weekday days (Tuesday, Wednesday, and/or Thursday) for two weeks and computing the average as the sum of all riders on the four mid-week days divided by four. An examination of mid-weekday ridership data from 2013 through 2017 showed ridership on these three mid-weekday days is approximately equal. Since Monday (-1% compared to mid-weekday ridership) and Friday (-9%) trains tend to have lower ridership than mid-weekday trains, the pre-2018 "average weekday ridership" results in a count approximately 2% less than the 2018+ "average mid-weekday ridership" methodology. Details from 2018 Ridership Report Archived 2020-05-20 at the Wayback Machine
3. "Caltrain — San Francisco to Gilroy". Caltrain. Archived from the original on January 2, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
4. "History, Caltrain Milestones". Caltrain. Archived from the original on August 27, 2006. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
5. Pimentel, Benjamin (June 30, 1997). "A New Look for Caltrain — Critics want better service instead of cosmetic changes". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
6. Van Hattem, Matt (July 5, 2006). "Caltrain". Trains Magazine. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
7. "Caltrain System Map". Caltrain. Archived from the original on February 18, 2013. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
8. "Printer–Friendly WEEKDAY Caltrain Schedule". Caltrain. 21 September 2024.
9. "Printer–Friendly WEEKEND Caltrain Schedule". Caltrain. 21 September 2024.
10. Somers, Janets (February 4, 2005). "All aboard for train buffs". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
11. "Caltrain Facilities and Statistics". Caltrain. Archived from the original on June 15, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2008.
12. "Accessibility". www.caltrain.com. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
13. "Burlingame Broadway Grade Separation Project". www.caltrain.com. Archived from the original on 2020-09-24. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
14. "Proposed Closure of Atherton Caltrain Station". www.caltrain.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2020-08-04.
15. "22nd St Station ADA Access Improvement Feasibility Study: SFCTA Update" (PDF). Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. October 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2022-09-07.
16. Murphy, Dave (August 1, 2005). "Baby Bullet service expands". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
17. "Bits of History: Exploring San Mateo County Historical Photographs". Retrieved 2013-04-04.
18. Rail Passenger Development Plan, 1988-93 Fiscal Years (Report). Department of Transportation, State of California. March 1988. pp. 88, 122. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
19. "Key Findings-February 2010 Caltrain Annual Passenger Counts" (PDF). Caltrain. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
20. "Proposed Closure of Atherton Caltrain Station". www.caltrain.com. Archived from the original on 2020-12-06. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
21. Pence, Angelica (December 3, 1999). "Little-Used Mountain View Station Closing". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved November 5, 2008.

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