The Fullerton Transportation Center is a passenger rail and bus station located in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and Sa ...

, United States. It is served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's '' Pacific Surfliner'' and ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and Southwest via Kansas City, Albuquerque, and Flagstaff ...

'' trains, as well as Metrolink's 91 Line and

Orange County Line The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passengers ...

trains. It is also a major bus depot for the Orange County Transportation Authority, and is one of the major transportation hubs of

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

History

The

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison, Kansas, Atchison and Top ...

opened its first Fullerton station in 1888. The station has two historic depots on site: one built in 1923 by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

, and the other built in 1930 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. Both depots are on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. The 1930 Santa Fe depot serves as an Amtrak ticket office and passenger waiting area and has a cafe. It features Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture, as evidenced by the stuccoed walls, red tile roof, and decorative wrought ironwork. The Union Pacific Railroad was the third railway to lay tracks through Fullerton and to build a depot. This helped firmly establish Fullerton as the regional rail center for northern Orange County. The 1923

Mission Revival style The Mission Revival style was part of an architectural movement, beginning in the late 19th century, for the revival and reinterpretation of American colonial styles. Mission Revival drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century ...

building was designed by

John and Donald Parkinson John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Colise ...

. Fullerton's redevelopment agency moved the station next to the Santa Fe depot in 1980 to preserve it. Now it is occupied by an

Old Spaghetti Factory The Old Spaghetti Factory is an Italian-American-style chain restaurant in the United States and Canada. The U.S. restaurants are owned by OSF International, based in Portland, Oregon, while the Canadian restaurants are owned by The Old Spaghett ...

restaurant.

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

constructed an

interurban railway The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

to Fullerton in 1917, located just north of the Santa Fe station and providing a transfer point to their system. In September 1983, the Orange County Transit District (now the Orange County Transportation Authority) opened the Fullerton Transportation Center bus depot which is located across the street from the station which is served by OCTA routes 26, 43, 47, 143, 213 and 543. This station became one of the original 9 stations on the Metrolink

when it opened on March 28, 1994 and also one of the original 7 stations when the 91 Line (now the

91/Perris Valley Line The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a commuter rail route operated by Metrolink that runs from Los Angeles to Perris in Southern California, paralleling State Route 91 between Riverside and Santa Fe Springs. Operating si ...

) opened on May 6, 2002. In the late 1990s, the Fullerton Railway Plaza Association (FRPA) began fundraising and lobbying for the creation of an interactive railroad attraction or museum at the site, while continuing preservation efforts. Starting in 1999 the Amtrak station and the FRPA were hosts for the annual "Fullerton Railroad Days" event at the Santa Fe depot, an event that attracted between 30,000 and 40,000 participants. Due to the city not supporting the FRPA museum, Railroad Days was not held in 2009, and FRPA looked elsewhere, choosing to hold its 2010 event in neighboring Brea. The organization subsequently changed its name to the Southern California Railway Plaza Association (SCRPA). However, Railroad Days for 2020 was cancelled in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

Service

The station is served by the Metrolink 91 Line and

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

services, plus

intercity '' Pacific Surfliner'' and long-distance ''

'' services however, all ''Southwest Chief'' trains going to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

stops only to discharge passengers while trains going to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

stops only to pick up passengers. The BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision has three tracks through the station. Westbound passenger trains use the north track and its side platform; eastbound trains use the south track and side platform. The center track is for freight use only. An additional siding track with a side platform south of the mainline tracks is used for

short turn In public transport, a short turn, short working or turn-back is an earlier terminus on a bus or rail line that is used on some scheduled trips that do not operate along the full length of the route. Short turns are practical in scheduling when t ...

trains that run between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel or Oceanside.

References

External links

*
City of Fullerton: official Fullerton Transportation Center website
{{National Register of Historic Places in California Buildings and structures in Fullerton, California Amtrak stations in Orange County, California Bus stations in Orange County, California Metrolink stations in Orange County, California Transportation in Fullerton, California Former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stations in California Former Union Pacific Railroad stations in California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1888 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1923 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1930 National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1930s architecture in the United States John and Donald Parkinson buildings Mission Revival architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California 1923 establishments in California Proposed California High-Speed Rail stations Pacific Electric stations