The Fullerton Transportation Center is a

transit center A transport hub is a place where passengers and cargo are exchanged between vehicles and/or between transport modes. Public transport hubs include railway stations, rapid transit stations, bus stops, tram stops, airports, and ferry slips. ...

located in

Fullerton, California Fullerton ( ) is a city located in northern Orange County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 143,617. Fullerton was founded in 1887. It secured the land on behalf of the Atchison, Topeka and S ...

, United States. It is served by Amtrak's ''

Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is Amtrak's third-busiest service (exceeded in ridership only ...

'' and ''

Southwest Chief The ''Southwest Chief'' (formerly the ''Southwest Limited'' and ''Super Chief'') is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on a route between Chicago and Los Angeles through the Midwest and American Southwest ...

'' trains, as well as Metrolink's

91/Perris Valley Line The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a commuter rail route operated by Metrolink that runs from Los Angeles to Perris in Southern California, mostly paralleling State Route 91 between and stations. Operating since M ...

and

Orange County Line The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passe ...

trains. It is also a major bus depot for the

OC Bus OC Bus is the transit bus service operated by the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), serving every city in Orange County. Some of the lines serve the Los Angeles County border communities of Lakewood, La Mirada, Cerritos, Artes ...

system, and is one of the major transportation hubs of Orange County.

History

The

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

opened its first Fullerton station in 1888. The station has three historic depots on site: one built in 1923 by the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

, another built in 1930 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and the third used by the

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned Public transport, mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electr ...

starting in 1918. The two mainline depots are on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The 1930 Santa Fe depot serves as an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

ticket office and passenger waiting area and has a cafe. It features

Spanish Colonial Revival style architecture The Spanish Colonial Revival architecture (), often known simply as Spanish Revival, is a term used to encompass a number of Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural styles based in both Spanish colonial architecture and Spanish archi ...

, as evidenced by the stuccoed walls, red tile roof, and decorative wrought ironwork. The Union Pacific Railroad was the third railway to lay tracks through Fullerton and to build a depot. This helped firmly establish Fullerton as the regional rail center for northern Orange County. The 1923 Mission Revival style building was designed by

John and Donald Parkinson John and Donald Parkinson were a father-and-son architectural firm operating in the Los Angeles area in the early 20th century. They designed and built many of the city's iconic buildings, including Grand Central Market, the Memorial Colise ...

. Fullerton's

redevelopment agency A redevelopment agency (RDA) is a government body dedicated to urban renewal. Typically it is a municipal level city department focused on a particular district or corridor that has become neglected or blighted (a community redevelopment agency o ...

moved the station next to the Santa Fe depot in 1980 to preserve it. Now it is occupied by an Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant.

constructed an

interurban railway The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

to Fullerton in 1917, terminating just north of the Santa Fe station and provided a transfer point to their system. The Mission Revival style depot was built the following year. Their passenger service lasted until January 1938.

Greyhound Bus Greyhound Lines, Inc. is an American operator of intercity bus services. Greyhound operates the largest intercity bus network in the United States, and also operates charter and Amtrak Thruway services, as well as intercity buses in Mexico. B ...

service called at the depot between 1936 and 1976. In September 1983, the Orange County Transit District (now the

Orange County Transportation Authority The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for ...

) opened the Fullerton Transportation Center bus depot which is located across the street from the station, and is served by OCTA routes 26, 43, 47, 123, 143, and 543. This station became one of the original nine stations on the Metrolink

when it opened on March28, 1994 and also one of the original 7 stations when the 91 Line (now the

) opened on May6, 2002. In the late 1990s, the Fullerton Railway Plaza Association (FRPA) began fundraising and lobbying for the creation of an interactive railroad attraction or museum at the site, while continuing preservation efforts. Starting in 1999 the Amtrak station and the FRPA were hosts for the annual "Fullerton Railroad Days" event at the Santa Fe depot, an event that attracted between 30,000 and 40,000 participants. Due to the city not supporting the FRPA museum, Railroad Days was not held in 2009, and FRPA looked elsewhere, choosing to hold its 2010 event in neighboring Brea. The organization subsequently changed its name to the Southern California Railway Plaza Association (SCRPA). However, Railroad Days for 2020 was cancelled in response to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. , Amtrak plans to reconstruct the platforms for accessibility by FY 2025.

Service

The station is served by the Metrolink

and

commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

services, plus

intercity ''

'' and long-distance ''

'' services however, all ''Southwest Chief'' trains going to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

stop only to discharge passengers while trains going to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

stop only to pick up passengers. The

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

San Bernardino Subdivision has three tracks through the station. Westbound passenger trains use the north track and its side platform; eastbound trains use the south track and side platform. The center track is for freight use only. An additional siding track with a side platform south of the mainline tracks is used for

short turn In public transport, a short turn, short working or turn-back is a service on a bus route or rail line that does not operate along the full length of the route. Short turn trips are often scheduled and published in a Public transport timetable, ti ...

trains that run between Fullerton and Laguna Niguel or Oceanside.

References

External links

*
City of Fullerton: official Fullerton Transportation Center website
{{National Register of Historic Places in California Buildings and structures in Fullerton, California Amtrak stations in Orange County, California Bus stations in Orange County, California Metrolink stations in Orange County, California Transportation in Fullerton, California Former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway stations Former Union Pacific Railroad stations Railway stations in the United States opened in 1888 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1923 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1930 National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, California Railway stations on the National Register of Historic Places in California 1930s architecture in the United States John and Donald Parkinson buildings Mission Revival architecture in California Spanish Colonial Revival architecture in California 1923 establishments in California Proposed California High-Speed Rail stations Pacific Electric stations Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach stations in California