College Park station (Caltrain)

College Park station is a limited-service, weekday-only Caltrain station serving the College Park neighborhood and the Bellarmine College Preparatory school in San Jose, California.

College Park
College Park station in September 2012
General information
Location780 Stockton Avenue
San Jose, California
Coordinates37°20′34″N 121°54′56″W / 37.34278°N 121.91556°W / 37.34278; -121.91556
Owned byPeninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board (PCJPB)
Line(s)PCJPB Peninsula Subdivision[1]
Platforms2 island platforms
Tracks5
ConnectionsBus transport VTA: 61[2]
Construction
AccessiblePartial, no wheelchair lift available
Other information
StatusLimited-service, weekday-only
History
Original companySouthern Pacific
Passengers
2018108 per weekday[3]Increase 31.7%
Services
Preceding station Caltrain Following station
Santa Clara Local
(two daily round trips)
San Jose Diridon
toward Tamien
     Limited does not stop here
     Express does not stop here
     Weekend Local does not stop here
Former services
Preceding station Caltrain Following station
Santa Clara Local (L1)
Train #106 only
San Jose Diridon
toward Tamien
Lawrence Limited (L3)
Train #307 only
San Jose Diridon
Terminus
Santa Clara Limited (L4)
Trains #405 & #408 only
San Jose Diridon
toward Gilroy
Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station
Santa Clara Peninsula Commute San Jose
Terminus
Market Street Depot
before 1935
Terminus
Location
Map

Service

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The station is served by four trains per weekday. During each rush hour, one northbound local train from Tamien and one southbound local train from San Francisco serve the station. There is no weekend service.[4]

Due to the small size of the station platforms, only the three northern-most cars of each train open their doors to allow passengers to board and alight. The two southern cars do not open.[5]

The station has a boarding assistance area so that train crews may offer help to passengers with disabilities. However, the station does not have a wheelchair lift, limiting the accessibility of the station.[5]

History

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Before Caltrain, College Park was a station on Southern Pacific's Peninsula Commute line, in fare zone 6 (brown).[6] It is mentioned in Jack London's 1903 novel The Call of the Wild as the location at which the stolen canine protagonist is fenced, beginning his journey away from civilization.[7][8]

In August 2005, service was reduced from 12 daily trains to four.[9] The nearby students at Bellarmine College Preparatory who use the station have a history of protesting to protect it from removal.[10]

The platform is planned to be rebuilt to accommodate through-running California High-Speed Rail service.[11]

References

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  1. ^ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 13.
  2. ^ "VTA System" (PDF) (Map). Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. June 13, 2022. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  3. ^ "2018 Annual Count Key Findings Report" (PDF). Caltrain. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Caltrain (September 12, 2022). "Schedule". Caltrain. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  5. ^ a b "College Park station information". Caltrain. Retrieved October 12, 2022.
  6. ^ "Southern Pacific Peninsula Time Tables". Southern Pacific Lines. April 1, 1978. Archived from the original on July 1, 2007.
  7. ^ Dunn, Geoffrey (January 16, 2013). "The Call of the Valley". Metro Silicon Valley. San Jose, California. p. 17. Retrieved March 15, 2014. When Buck was stolen from the 'Miller' ranch, London referenced 'the little flag railway station known as College Park,' a small train stop that, to this day, is located in the College Park neighborhood, just off the Alameda near Bellarmine Preparatory School.
  8. ^ London, Jack (1903). "Chapter I. Into the Primitive" . The Call of the Wild. No one saw him and Buck go off through the orchard on what Buck imagined was merely a stroll. And with the exception of a solitary man, no one saw them arrive at the little flag station known as College Park.
  9. ^ "2014 Caltrain Annual Passenger Counts, Attachment 1 – Caltrain Service History" (PDF). Caltrain. 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2014. Retrieved March 15, 2015.
  10. ^ "Caltrain Cutbacks Would Take Hundreds of Bellarmine High Students Off Track". Gilroy, CA Patch. March 21, 2011. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  11. ^ "San Francisco to San Jose Project Section Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement Volume 1 Chapter 2" (PDF). CHSRA. July 2020. Retrieved July 20, 2020.
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