Camarillo station is a passenger
train station
A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...
in
Camarillo, California
Camarillo ( ) is a city in Ventura County in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 70,741, an increase of 5,540 from the 65,201 counted in the 2010 Census. Camarillo is named for brothers Juan an ...
. Amtrak's ''
Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
'' between
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...
and
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
and Metrolink's
Ventura County Line
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTr ...
between
Los Angeles Union Station
Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande S ...
and
Ventura–East station
Ventura–East station (formerly Montalvo) is a Metrolink passenger train station in the Montalvo neighborhood of Ventura, California. Passengers board here for Metrolink's Ventura County Line going towards Los Angeles Union Station. The platf ...
stop here. It is located at the foot of Ventura Boulevard at the intersection of Lewis Road, and is underneath the
US Highway 101
U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
overpass. The first Camarillo depot was at this same location until Southern Pacific ended passenger service.
History
When the Southern Pacific Railroad built a new line from Ventura to Los Angeles, it built a depot to serve the Rancho Camarillo. It was a Southern Pacific two-story design, similar to the still existing
Santa Susana Depot
Santa Susana Depot is a train station building located near the Santa Susana Pass in Simi Valley, California. Originally located on Los Angeles Avenue at Tapo Street, the depot opened in 1903. The station was named after the Santa Susana Mountains ...
built on the same line. It was located where the current Ventura Freeway overpass is today. While the overpass was being built in 1955, the depot building was shifted further along the track closer to the old Ventura Boulevard rail crossing. Passenger service stops in Camarillo ended on the Coast line in the 1960s. The depot was offered to the City of Camarillo, but no location could be found to preserve it, so it was demolished in the 1970s. The Ventura Boulevard rail crossing was removed with the opening of the Ventura Freeway.
The Amtrak ''
Coast Starlight
The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's formati ...
'' train passed through Camarillo in the 1970s and 1980s, but did not stop for passengers. The location was an empty lot used for transloading box cars for many years. The short-lived
CalTrain
Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far ...
service also passed through Camarillo without stopping.
A temporary platform opened at the station on February 14, 1994, as part of the emergency expansion of service on the Ventura County Line in response to the
1994 Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately ...
. Amtrak's ''
San Diegan
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
'' trains (later renamed the ''
Pacific Surfliner
The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo.
The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...
'') began stopping in Camarillo on October 30, 1994.
[ ]
References
External links
Amtrak stations in Ventura County, California
Bus stations in Ventura County, California
Metrolink stations in Ventura County, California
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1994
Buildings and structures in Camarillo, California
1994 establishments in California
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