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Palo Alto station (also called Palo Alto Transit Center) is an intermodal transit center in
Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
. It is served by
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 fa ...
regional rail service,
SamTrans SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into port ...
and Santa Clara VTA local bus service,
Dumbarton Express Dumbarton Express is a regional public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties via the Dumbarton Bridge, the system's namesake. The bus service is funded by a consortium of five tra ...
regional bus service, the Stanford University Marguerite Shuttle, and several local shuttle services. Palo Alto is the second-busiest Caltrain station after
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, averaging 7,764 weekday boardings by a 2018 count. The Caltrain station has two
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...
s serving the two tracks of the
Peninsula Subdivision The Peninsula Extension which created the Peninsula Subdivision of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) was the new railroad line on the Virginia Peninsula from Richmond to southeastern Warwick County. Its principal purpose was to provide an i ...
and a nearby bus transfer plaza. The
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ) was a railroad which linked the communities of San Francisco and San Jose, California, running the length of the San Francisco Peninsula. The company incorporated in 1860 and was one of the first ra ...
was built through then-empty land north of Mayfield in 1863. The first Palo Alto station was opened in 1890 to serve the then-newly established Stanford University. It was replaced by a larger depot in 1896. The Southern Pacific Railroad opened a new station in 1941 as part of a grade separation project. Designed by John H. Christie, it was constructed in the Streamline Moderne style to match the railroad's '' Daylight'' series of streamlined passenger trains. Intercity service to Palo Alto ended in 1971; the
Peninsula Commute The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California and San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula. This service ran as a ...
service continued and was renamed Caltrain in 1985. The station building was listed 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 ...
as Palo Alto Southern Pacific Railroad Depot in 1996.


History


Early stations

The
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad (SF&SJ) was a railroad which linked the communities of San Francisco and San Jose, California, running the length of the San Francisco Peninsula. The company incorporated in 1860 and was one of the first ra ...
opened from San Francisco to Mayfield in 1863, and to San Jose the next year. Several decades later, Leland Stanford founded the new town of
Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...
to the north of Mayfield. Palo Alto station was opened in 1890 to serve the then-newly established Stanford University. The original structure had open sides supported by posts; it was enclosed in 1893 for use as a waiting room. A temporary building for ticket sales, telegraphy, and baggage was constructed between the waiting room and a retrofitted former boxcar. (That boxcar had previously been used as the Los Gatos station, and was later used as the Los Altos station). A new station, costing $5,500 (), was completed in 1896. Substantially larger than the previous depot, it had five wooden arches styled after the Richardsonian Romanesque masonry arches of the university campus. The architecturally-plain station was never locally popular, and calls came for its replacement as early as the 1920s.


Streamline Moderne station

In 1939, the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) began a grade separation project in Palo Alto. The tracks were moved west and raised , with University Avenue lowered under the tracks and Alma Street just south of the station. A temporary station on the east side of the tracks was built in 1939, and the cornerstone for a new station building was laid on October 20, 1940. The new station was opened with a parade on March 8, 1941. The whole project cost $700,000 (), most of which was paid for by the federal government. The new station building was constructed in the Streamline Moderne style, in contrast to the earlier
Mission Revival 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 ...
and
Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...
buildings in Palo Alto designed by Birge Clark. Designed by SP architect John H. Christie, the building's aesthetics were inspired by the railroad's '' Daylight'' series of streamlined passenger trains. The station is long by wide; it consists of two buildings connected with an
arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...
facing the tracks and a marquee at the rear. The larger building housed the ticket office and
waiting room A waiting room or waiting hall is a building, or more commonly a part of a building or a room, where people sit or stand until the event or appointment for which they are waiting begins. There are two types of waiting room. One has individuals ...
, with the smaller baggage room to the north. The waiting room contains a 1944
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
by John McQuarrie (who painted murals in several SP stations) showing facts and events in the history of California. The station's design is typical of the Streamline Moderne movement; it has
porthole A porthole, sometimes called bull's-eye window or bull's-eye, is a generally circular window used on the hull of ships to admit light and air. Though the term is of maritime origin, it is also used to describe round windows on armored vehicle ...
windows, substantial use of glass blocks, and horizontal "speed lines" on the exterior. A shelter was built on the eastern (northbound) platform; it was later modified with more open ends and larger windows. Three pedestrian underpasses were built: one north of the station building and a pair flanking University Avenue. Although the relocated right-of-way was built to fit four tracks, only three tracks were built; a narrow
island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
(typical of SP stations) was located between the western and center tracks. The platforms were long to accommodate longer intercity trains.


Modern changes

Intercity service to Palo Alto lasted until May 1, 1971, when
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...
took over service from the private railroads. The San Francisco–
Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...
'' Del Monte'' was discontinued, while the San Francisco–Los Angeles ''
Coast Daylight The ''Coast Daylight'', originally known as the ''Daylight Limited'', was a passenger train on the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California, via SP's Coast Line. It was advertised as the "most beautiful ...
'' was rerouted via Oakland. SP
Peninsula Commute The Peninsula Commute, also known as the Southern Pacific Peninsula or just Peninsula, was the common name for commuter rail service between San Jose, California and San Francisco, California on the San Francisco Peninsula. This service ran as a ...
local service (renamed
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 fa ...
in 1985) continued to stop at Palo Alto. In 1982, the station building was refurbished and landscaping was added. The station was added to 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 ...
as an example of the Streamline Moderne style on April 18, 1996. In April 1999, the former baggage building was converted into a free staffed bike station with 80 spaces. It was closed on October 27, 2004, for asbestos removal as part of a $1.2 million renovation of the station buildings. The bicycle station reopened on February 27, 2007, as a paid and unstaffed facility with 96 spaces. The bus plaza adjacent to the station building was renovated in 2005. From 2008 to 2009, Caltrain constructed the $35 million Palo Alto Stations Improvement Project at the Palo Alto and
California Avenue California Avenue station is a Caltrain station located in Palo Alto, California. It stops at the historical town center of Mayfield, which was annexed by the town of Palo Alto in 1925. The current station structure was built in 1983 and the st ...
stations. At Palo Alto, the northern underpass was modified to make it accessible, allowing the nearby pedestrian level crossing to be closed. The platforms (shortened significantly since the station was built) were rebuilt and lengthened. New lighting, shelters, and message signs were installed. Palo Alto is the second-busiest Caltrain station after
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, averaging 7,764 weekday boardings by a 2018 count.


Future plans

A 2007 city report called for additional expansion and renovation of the station area in conjunction with the
California High-Speed Rail California High-Speed Rail (also known as CAHSR or CHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system currently under construction in California in the United States. Planning for the project began in 1996, when the California Legislature and Gover ...
project. The rail line would be widened to four tracks with two island platforms—an additional northbound track would be built east of the existing northbound platform, and a replacement southbound platform would be built between two southbound tracks. University Avenue would be split into a
one-way pair A one-way pair, one-way couple, or couplet refers to that portion of a bi-directional traffic facilitysuch as a road, bus, streetcar, or light rail linewhere its opposing flows exist as two independent and roughly parallel facilities. Descripti ...
flanking a new city park. The bus plaza would gain a western entrance with direct access to El Camino Real. In 2013, the
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a Special district (United States), special district responsible for public transit services, Congestion management agenc ...
proposed relocating the bus plaza onto both sides of University Avenue. Among the possibilities being considered for eliminating grade crossings in Palo Alto is a long tunnel under the downtown area.


Bus connections

Palo Alto station is also a major transfer point for regional and local bus systems: *City of Palo Alto shuttles: Crosstown, Embarcadero *
Dumbarton Express Dumbarton Express is a regional public transit service in the San Francisco Bay Area connecting Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara Counties via the Dumbarton Bridge, the system's namesake. The bus service is funded by a consortium of five tra ...
: DB *
East Palo Alto East Palo Alto (abbreviated E.P.A.) is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of East Palo Alto was 30,034. It is situated on the San Francisco Peninsula, roughly halfway between the cities of ...
shuttle * Menlo Park midday shuttle *
Samtrans SamTrans (stylized as samTrans; officially the San Mateo County Transit District) is a public transport agency in and around San Mateo, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It provides bus service throughout San Mateo County and into port ...
: ECR, 280, 281, 296, 397 *
Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, more commonly known simply as the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), is a Special district (United States), special district responsible for public transit services, Congestion management agenc ...
: , , Rapid  * Stanford Health Care TECH shuttle *
Stanford Marguerite Since the founding, Stanford University has provided on-campus housing for students. Today, all undergraduate students, most graduate students, and many graduate employees use campus housing. While not all graduate students are eligible for campus ...
: MC, N, O, P, RP, S, SE, X, Y Dumbarton Express, SamTrans, VTA, and some Marguerite buses stop in a bus plaza northwest of the station building (adjacent to the southbound platform). Some Marguerite buses instead stop south of the station building. Most other shuttles and some Marguerite buses stop near the northbound platform.


References


External links


Caltrain - Palo Alto
{{National Register of Historic Places in California Caltrain stations in Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus stations Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1890 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California Buildings and structures in Palo Alto, California Streamline Moderne architecture in California United States bike stations