Oakland Coliseum station

The Oakland Coliseum station complex is located in the East Oakland area of Oakland, California, United States. The complex consists of two separate stations, Amtrak's Oakland Coliseum station, and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)'s Coliseum station, which are located approximately apart. The stations are connected to each other and to the Oakland Arena/Oakland Coliseum sports complex by an accessible pedestrian bridge.

The BART station opened in 1972, providing access to the then-new Oakland Coliseum and the surrounding neighborhood. In 2005, an Amtrak platform was added to the complex, making it one of two transfer points between BART and Amtrak's ''Capitol Corridor'' service along with Richmond station. In 2014, the complex became the terminus of the Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line, providing a rail connection to Oakland International Airport. The station also serves as a transfer point for AC Transit buses and business park shuttles.

History

The Coliseum station was opened on September 11, 1972 as part of the first segment of the BART system. The station was soon connected to the Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum/Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum Arena sports complex by a pedestrian bridge over San Leandro Street and the Union Pacific Railroad's right-of-way. The bridge initially opened for a brief period in October 1974 for the American League playoffs and the 1974 World Series, but was closed due to excessive swaying and reopened in 1975. In 1977, AirBART bus service to Oakland International Airport began, and the station was renamed Coliseum/Oakland Airport to reflect the new connection to the airport.

Amtrak's ''Coast Starlight'' service began using the Union Pacific right-of-way in 1971, but only stopped at the main downtown stations in Oakland at 16th Street and Jack London Square. In 1991, ''Capitol Corridor'' service began, but did not initially stop at the Oakland Coliseum site. In 2002, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), Caltrans, and the City of Oakland decided to build a ''Capitol Corridor'' station at the Oakland Coliseum. The new $6.6 million Oakland Coliseum station opened on June 6, 2005 and included a newly built connection to the original BART-Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum pedestrian bridge, facilitating a grade separated transfer between the ''Capitol Corridor'' and BART.

BART considered plans for a rail link to the Oakland International Airport as early as 1970. Various ideas were proposed, including a bi-directional loop off the main line, but no significant progress was made until the early 1990s. In 2009, the Oakland City Council approved the construction of the Oakland Airport Connector, a automated guideway transit line. Construction on the line began in October 2010, and it was officially renamed the Coliseum-Oakland International Airport line by BART. The line's Coliseum station opened on November 21, 2014, along with the rest of the line. As a result, AirBART bus service between the station and the airport was discontinued, although AC Transit still provides a bus connection. The name of the conventional BART station was changed back to Coliseum, allowing the terminus station at the airport to be named the Oakland International Airport station.

In the early 2000s, planning began for transit-oriented development to replace a station parking lot. The Coliseum Connections project, a modular structure with 110 mixed-income units on a site, began construction in November 2017 and was completed on April 4, 2019. The developers of the project lease the site from BART. In August 2020, a mural by seven Oakland Unified School District students was completed in the pedestrian tunnel.

Station layout

Amtrak station

The Amtrak station at Oakland Coliseum is an unstaffed grade-level station located at the western end of 73rd Avenue. The station has few amenities beyond three sets of benches sheltered by open-air canopies. A QuikTrak ticket machine that was previously located at the station was removed due to vandalism issues. The station is situated along the Union Pacific Railroad's Niles Subdivision, which has three tracks at this location: two mainline tracks used by Union Pacific freight trains and the ''Coast Starlight'', and a siding track with a single side platform serving ''Capitol Corridor'' trains.

Oakland Coliseum is primarily served by through trains operating between Sacramento and San Jose, but it also functions as a part-time terminal for some ''Capitol Corridor'' service traveling to and from Sacramento. ''Capitol Corridor'' trains regularly meet at the CP 66th Avenue and CP Coliseum interlockings, located immediately north and south of the station, respectively, as the service primarily operates on a single-track between Oakland and San Jose. An accessible ramp structure connects the platform to the pedestrian bridge.

BART station

The BART station at Oakland Coliseum is an elevated three-level station. Fare control and concessions are located on the ground level, east of San Leandro Street, underneath the northern end of the platform. Conventional BART trains serve an island platform on the elevated second level. The Union Pacific Railroad's Oakland Subdivision runs parallel to BART immediately to the east of the station, separating it from the adjacent Coliseum neighborhood.

An accessible pedestrian underpass tunnel equipped with a stairlift runs underneath the Union Pacific right-of-way and connects the fare control area with the parking area and Snell Street. A taxi stand is located along the western side of San Leandro Street, just north of 71st Avenue, and there is a secondary taxi loading zone along the eastern side of Snell Street near the bicycle locker area.

Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line

The Coliseum-Oakland International Airport line (Beige Line) station is located on the third level of the Oakland Coliseum station complex and has one track and one side platform. The platform is only accessible from the southern end of the main BART platform and has no direct non-emergency street access. Unlike conventional BART stations, the Coliseum-Oakland International Airport line platform features platform screen doors, which provide a barrier between the platform and the guideway of the driverless system. The fare for the Coliseum-Oakland International Airport line is charged at Coliseum station for travel in both directions.

The walls of the platform area feature an artwork titled ''A-Round Oakland'' by Gordon Huether. The $300,000 artwork consists of around 50 colorful dichroic glass circles ranging in diameter from .

Bus service

The Oakland Coliseum station is one of the main bus-rail interchanges for East Oakland and is served 24/7 by various bus services. The station is served by eight AC Transit bus routes, which stop on both sides of San Leandro Street:

*Local routes 45, 73, 90, and 98
* All Nighter route 805
*Limited-stop route 46L
*School routes 646 and 657

In addition, several fare-free local shuttle routes stop at the BART passenger loading zone on the southeastern corner of San Leandro Street and 71st Avenue. These shuttle services include the Alameda County East Oakland Shuttle, which connects the station with county offices at Eastmont Town Center, Edgewater Drive, and Enterprise Way, as well as shuttle buses serving the nearby Harbor Bay Business Park.

References

External links

*BART
Coliseum
*Capitol Corridor
Oakland Coliseum (OAC)
*Trainweb – USA Rail Guide


{{navboxes, list1=
{{Bay Area Rapid Transit
{{Amtrak California stations
{{Bay Area Rail Stations
{{San Francisco Bay Area Public Transit
{{Oakland, California

Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California
Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Richmond line
Stations on the Berryessa/North San José–Daly City line
Stations on the Dublin/Pleasanton–Daly City line
Stations on the Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line
Amtrak stations in Alameda County, California
Railway stations in Oakland, California
Bus stations in Alameda County, California
Bay Area Rapid Transit stations located above ground
Railway stations in the United States opened in 1972
Railway stations in the United States opened in 2005
Transit centers in the United States
1972 establishments in California