Atherton station

Atherton is a weekend-only Caltrain station located in Atherton, California. It serves the 32 Saturday and 28 Sunday local Caltrain runs and does not serve weekday trains or weekend Baby Bullet trains. Because of the narrow center platform, a hold-out rule is instituted at this station, allowing only one train to alight passengers at a time.

This article is about the station in California. For railway station in England, see Atherton railway station.
Atherton
View of the Atherton station from the northbound island platform
Location1 Dinkelspiel Station Lane
Atherton, California
Coordinates37°27′51″N 122°11′50″W
Owned byPeninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Platforms1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
ParkingAvailable
Bicycle facilitiesLockers available
Other information
StatusWeekend service only, pending closure
Fare zone3
History
Openedc. 1866
Rebuilt1913, 1954, 1990[1][2]
Previous namesFair Oaks
Original companySouthern Pacific
Traffic
Passengers (2018)65/49 (Saturday/Sunday)[3]
Services
Preceding station Caltrain Following station
Redwood City
toward San Francisco
 Local
(weekends and holidays only)
 Menlo Park
toward Tamien or Gilroy
Former services
Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station
San Carlos
toward San Francisco
 Del Monte
Until 1971
 Palo Alto
toward Monterey
Location

History
Atherton station in 1971

Southern Pacific trains served the city since 1866; the station was then flag stop known as Fair Oaks.[2][4] It was renamed Atherton in 1912, over a decade before the town was similarly renamed.[1] Southern Pacific constructed a new shelter building in 1913.[2] Atherton lost intercity rail service in 1971 when the Del Monte was discontinued. The station was surveyed in 1983 for potential inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places,[5] but elements added during a renovation in the 1950s would preclude that distinction.[2] The building has survived two fires: one in the 1990s and another in April 2007.[2]

Weekday ridership was less than 150 per day when weekday service was suspended following the fiscal crisis of 2005 and the expansion of Baby Bullet service.[6] Shuttle service to Redwood City was previously provided; however, due to low ridership, it was discontinued on July 1, 2007.[7]

Despite talks of restoring regular service,[8] the town accepted Caltrain's 2020 proposal to eventually close the station.[2][9]

References
  1. Duncan, Mark (October 4, 2005). "The San Francisco Peninsula Railroad Passenger Service: Past, Present, and Future" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2018.
  2. Swartz, Angela (11 March 2020). "A fond farewell to Atherton's train station". The Almanac. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  3. "2018 Annual Count Key Findings Report" (PDF). Caltrain. 2018.
  4. "History of Atherton". Atherton, CA. Town of Atherton. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  5. Origer, Janine M. "ACultural Resources Studyforthe Atherton Civic Center Master Plan, Atherton,San MateoCounty, California". City of Atherton. Tom Origer & Associates. Retrieved 18 January 2020.
  6. "Caltrain Weekday Station Passenger Boardings - 1992 & 1995 through 2007". Caltrain. Archived from the original on 7 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  7. "(untitled)". Caltrain. Archived from the original on October 10, 2007.
  8. Wood, Barbara (26 July 2017). "Atherton: Caltrain will soon cut trees to install electric wires". Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  9. Swartz, Angela (17 January 2020). "Atherton signs off on Caltrain proposal to permanently close its train station". The Almanac. Retrieved 18 January 2020.

Media related to Atherton station at Wikimedia Commons


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