San Jose Diridon station is the central passenger rail depot for

San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popu ...

. It also serves as a major intermodal transit center for

Santa Clara County Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259, as of the 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring San Benito County together ...

and

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Cou ...

. The station is named after former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon. The station is on the

Union Pacific 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 Pac ...

Coast Line tracks (formerly Southern Pacific) at 65 Cahill Street in San Jose. The depot is 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 ...

for its

Italian Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range o ...

style architectural and historical significance. The station 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 ...

, ACE,

VTA light rail VTA Light Rail is a light rail system in San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, and consists of of network comprising three main lines on stand ...

, and

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. ...

trains. The bus plaza at the station is served by

Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

Megabus Megabus may refer to: * Megabus (Europe), a low-cost coach service with services in Europe owned by ComfortDelGro. * Megabus (North America), a low-cost bus service in the United States and Canada owned by Variant Equity Advisors. * Megabús, a ...

, Monterey-Salinas Transit,

Santa Cruz Metro Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Santa Cruz METRO also operates the Hig ...

(

Highway 17 Express The Highway 17 Express is an Amtrak Thruway route provided by a consortium of entities that provides regional service between San Jose and Santa Cruz County in the South Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The service is so called because it trav ...

), and VTA buses.

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which u ...

(BART) metro service to a new underground station is projected to begin in 2029–2030 with the completion of the

Silicon Valley BART extension The Silicon Valley BART extension is an ongoing effort to expand service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clara County via the East Bay from its former terminus at the Fremont station in Alameda County. Planned since at least 1981, th ...

Architecture

The depot is in the

style, with a three-story central section flanked by two-story wings. The building, a compilation of rectangular sections, is 390 feet (118 m) long and 40 feet to 78 feet (12 to 24 m) wide. The central section, which contains the passenger

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 ...

, measures 40 by 80 feet (12 by 25 m) and is 33 feet (10 m) high. The high center

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

housing the waiting room is constructed of steel columns and

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

es. The side wings are framed with wood. The exterior walls are clad with tapestry brick or varied colors and arranged in an

English bond Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by siz ...

pattern. The depot is in an industrial area formerly dominated by warehouses and related commercial businesses. Several vernacular sheds, a

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conju ...

, butterfly passenger sheds and the nearby Alameda underpass are all contributing buildings and structures within the railroad station. The building was designed by Southern Pacific architect,

John H. Christie John H. Christie (1878–1960) was an American architect who worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad, and was the railroad's Chief Architect from 1924 to 1947. Christie was born Johann Heinrich Christiansen in 1878, emigrated from Germany, and wa ...

, who had worked on the Southern Pacific remodeling of the

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

depot in 1915 and later, in 1939, worked on

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers 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 ...

. This depot is one of only four

style depots in California, and the largest surviving depot of the San Francisco–San Jose line. The only other large depot built in California during the 1930s was the

Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande ...

History

Southbound Coast Daylight at San Jose, January 1970

A rail station at this location was established in 1878, when the

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

South Pacific Coast Railroad The South Pacific Coast Railroad (SPC) was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founde ...

opened their San Jose Depot on the site. When Southern Pacific gained control of the railroad in 1887, the station was folded into the system and referred to as the West San Jose Depot. The current station opened in December 1935 as Cahill Depot. The opening of the depot was the culmination of a 30-year effort to relocate of the Coast Line of the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

away from the heavy traffic of the downtown area around the

Market Street Depot Market Street Depot was the primary intercity railway station in San Jose, California between 1883 and 1935. It was located at Market and Bassett Streets at the end of the former San Francisco and San Jose Railroad, a route which was later integr ...

, formerly located at Market and Bassett Streets, to the eastern edge of Willow Glen. The new depot replaced the Fourth Street line's station for passengers, though freight operations persisted for some time at the old facility. The Cahill Depot was a stop for several Southern Pacific passenger trains, including the famous

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 17t ...

–

train, the ''

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 ...

''. Other "named" trains that used the station were the all first-class ''

Lark Larks are passerine birds of the family Alaudidae. Larks have a cosmopolitan distribution with the largest number of species occurring in Africa. Only a single species, the horned lark, occurs in North America, and only Horsfield's bush lark oc ...

'' (a San Francisco-Los Angeles night train), seasonal ''

Suntan Special The ''Suntan Special'' (sometimes styled as ''Sun Tan Special'') was a summer excursion train service operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California, from 1927 to 1959. History When ''Suntan Special'' ...

'', and the '' Del Monte''. It was also a major station on 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 ...

, the SP's commuter service between San Jose and

. Amtrak took over long-distance passenger train service in 1971. Fourteen years later, Caltrans took over the Peninsula Commute and renamed it Caltrain. Restoration of the station was finished in 1994, when the station was renamed Diridon Station after former

Supervisor A supervisor, or lead, (also known as foreman, boss, overseer, facilitator, monitor, area coordinator, line-manager or sometimes gaffer) is the job title of a lower-level management position that is primarily based on authority over workers or ...

Rod Diridon. In 1996, Santa Clara County voters approved a half cent sales tax to fund the 1996 Measure B Transportation Improvement Project. Part of this project was the construction of the Vasona Light Rail extension which included a VTA light rail platform at the Diridon train depot. The official opening date for this light rail extension was October 1, 2005, however, revenue service at the San Fernando and Diridon Stations began on July 29, 2005 to accommodate attendees of the inaugural

San Jose Grand Prix The San Jose Grand Prix was an annual street circuit race in the Champ Car World Series in San Jose, California. The race had three different title sponsors over the course of its three-year existence, being known as the Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix ...

race. The passenger platform was featured in the opening scene of Alfred Hitchcock's ''Marnie'' (1964) representing the

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

, train station.

Services

Rail

Diridon Station is a major station for the Caltrain commuter rail line. Most trains outside of peak hours originate and terminate here, with rush-hour trains continuing as far south as Gilroy. It is the southern terminus for the Altamont Corridor Express, a commuter service running between Stockton and Silicon Valley. The station is the southern terminus for the ''

Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two points most trains operate between, San J ...

,'' Amtrak's regional rail service for the urban core of Northern California, with seven round trips to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

on weekdays and six on weekends. A seventh weekend round trip goes all the way to Auburn in the foothills of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

. It is also a major stop for Amtrak's ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...

,'' a long-distance service running along the length of the Pacific Coast from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

. Diridon Station is served by the Green Line of the

VTA Light Rail VTA Light Rail is a light rail system in San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, or VTA, and consists of of network comprising three main lines on stand ...

system.

Bus

* VTA Bus: , , , , Express , Rapid , Rapid , Rapid , Shuttle *

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District (SCMTD), or simply Santa Cruz METRO, provides bus service throughout Santa Cruz County, California. In , the system had a ridership of , or about per weekday as of . Santa Cruz METRO also operates the Hi ...

Future

The San Jose Diridon station is planned as a future stop on 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 ...

line and Phase II of VTA's

in Santa Clara County. Since late 2019, CHSRA, VTA, Caltrain, and City of San Jose have jointly held "Diridon Integrated Station Concept Plan" public workshops to determine how to best rebuild the Diridon station in order to facilitate integration of future and existing services. The BART station will be called Diridon and planned to be a subway station adjacent to the train station and Santa Clara Street. It will be located between the Santa Clara and

Downtown San Jose Downtown San Jose is the central business district of San Jose, California. Downtown is one of the largest tech clusters in Silicon Valley, as well as the cultural and political center of San Jose. History The town was first settled in 1777. T ...

BART stations with direct service to Santa Clara, San Francisco/Daly City (via the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

), and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

.BART Silicon Valley Fact Sheet
. VTA - BART Silicon Valley, 2011.

References

External links

Stations – ACE

Diridon Station – VTA
* {{Navboxes, list= {{Caltrain {{Santa Clara VTA {{ACE navbox {{Bay Area Rapid Transit {{Amtrak California stations {{CHSR {{Bay Area Rail Stations {{SFBAtransit {{National Register of Historic Places in California Railway stations in San Jose, California Caltrain stations in Santa Clara County, California Amtrak stations in Santa Clara County, California Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority light rail stations Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority bus stations Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California Altamont Corridor Express stations in Santa Clara County, California Proposed public transportation in the San Francisco Bay Area National Register of Historic Places in Santa Clara County, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1935 Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California Transit centers in the United States Italian Renaissance Revival architecture in the United States Renaissance Revival architecture in California Proposed California High-Speed Rail stations Future Bay Area Rapid Transit stations