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Richmond station (officially the Richmond Transit Center) is 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 ...
intercity rail and
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 and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...
(BART) station located in downtown
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.
. Richmond is the north terminus of BART service on the and ; it is a stop for Amtrak's ''
Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...
'', '' San Joaquins'', and ''
California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'' routes. The accessible station has one
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
for the two BART tracks, with a second island platform serving two of the three tracks of 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 ...
Martinez Subdivision for Amtrak trains. It is one of two transfer points between BART and Amtrak, along with
Oakland Coliseum station The station complex of Amtrak's Oakland Coliseum station and Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)'s Coliseum station is located in the East Oakland, Oakland, California, East Oakland area of Oakland, California, United States. ...
. The
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) 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 names ...
(SP)-controlled Northern Railway opened through what is now Richmond in 1878. A
flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...
at Barrett's Station was established by the mid-1880s; it was renamed Richmond in 1902 during the town's rapid growth. The SP constructed a new station at Richmond in 1904 and again in 1914–15. The SP station was demolished around 1968, though passenger continued until the formation of
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 ...
in 1971. The modern station opened on January 29, 1973, as the northern terminal of BART service. Controversies during planning included the station location and the design of the concourse. Amtrak service to the station began on October 30, 1977. A new Amtrak platform was built in 2001, followed by a renovation of the whole station completed in 2007. A parking garage replaced the surface parking lot in 2013.


Station design and services

Richmond station is located in Downtown Richmond in a large block bounded by Macdonald Avenue, Marina Way, Barrett Avenue, and 19th Street. The rail right-of-way runs diagonally (northwest–southeast) through the block at street level, with bridges over lowered sections of Macdonald Avenue and Barrett Avenue at the ends of the station. The BART platform – a single
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
with two tracks – is located on the east side of the station complex. Richmond is the north terminus of BART service on the and . The Amtrak platform – an island platform served by two of the three tracks of 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 ...
Martinez Subdivision – is located to its west. It is served by the ''
Capitol Corridor The ''Capitol Corridor'' is a passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, California, San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, California, Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two ...
'', '' San Joaquins'', and ''
California Zephyr The ''California Zephyr'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak between Chicago, Illinois, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area (at Emeryville station, Emeryville), via Omaha, Nebraska, Omaha, Denver, Sa ...
'' routes. A pedestrian concourse aligned with Nevin Avenue runs east–west under the tracks and platforms. Entrances from street level are located at both ends of the concourse. A semicircular "industrial post-modern" metal canopy covers the west entrance and a small retail building. A parking garage, a curved busway, and a
kiss and ride A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, Rail transport, r ...
lane are located on the southwest side of the station. Metro Walk, a
mixed-use Mixed use is a type of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning classification that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions ...
transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...
, occupies the northwest corner of the block. The station is fully accessible, with elevators to both platforms and at both entrances. The BART station was one of five designed by local firm Maher & Martens. Three pieces of
public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...
are located around the station complex. A mosaic relief of marine life by William Mitchell, made of seashells and fiberglass, is in the BART paid area of the concourse. Architecture critic Dave Weinstein describes it as "rather disquieting" and "the strangest work at any BART station". ''On the Right Track'', a 2007 series of tile murals by Jos Sances and Daniel Galvez, is located in the west entrance plaza. ''Moving Richmond'' by
Mildred Howard Mildred Howard (born 1945) is an African-American artist known primarily for her sculptural installation and mixed-media assemblages.Baker, Kenneth"Artist Intrigued by Interaction of Materials, Ability to Revise at Will", ''San Francisco Chronic ...
consists of two bent
weathering steel Weathering steel, often referred to by the genericised trademark COR-TEN steel and sometimes written without the hyphen as corten steel, is a group of steel alloys that form a stable external layer of rust that eliminates the need for painting ...
plates with poetry by
Ishmael Reed Ishmael Scott Reed (born February 22, 1938) is an American poet, novelist, essayist, songwriter, composer, playwright, editor and publisher known for his Satire, satirical works challenging American political culture. Perhaps his best-known wor ...
on the side of the parking garage. Although Richmond is a terminal station for BART, most connecting regional bus services instead run to El Cerrito del Norte station, which is much closer to
I-80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...
. Richmond station is served by several
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
bus services — local routes 70, 71, 72M, 74, 76, 376; several school routes; and all-night route 800 — all of which use the station busway.
Flixbus FlixBus (; styled FLiXBUS) is a German brand that offers low-cost Intercity bus service, intercity coach services in Europe, North America, South America and Asia. It is owned by , which also operates FlixTrain, FlixCar, , and Greyhound Lines. F ...
intercity buses and local shuttles also use the busway. A
Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited ser ...
route over the
Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...
connecting Richmond to the agency's main service area in North Bay ran until 2015, when it was combined with a route that terminates at El Cerrito del Norte station.


History


Southern Pacific Railroad

The
Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) 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 names ...
(SP)-controlled Northern Railway opened through the then-uninhabited swamplands near Point Richmond on January 8, 1878. Stops were soon established at San Pablo, north of what is now Richmond, and Stege in what is now the southeast corner of Richmond. By the mid-1880s, the SP established a
flag stop In public transport, a request stop, flag stop, or whistle stop is a bus stop, stop or train station, station at which buses or trains, respectively, stop only on request; that is, only if there are passengers or freight to be picked up or drop ...
at Barrett's station at modern-day Barrett Avenue. It was named for George H. Barrett, a local landowner whose house was nearby. By the turn of the century, Barrett's station was a three-sided shelter at which passengers could hail several daily trains. In 1902, Barrett's station was renamed Richmond to match the rapidly growing town. The SP built a new Richmond station on the north side of Macdonald Avenue in 1904. The old "shed" was demolished on August 18, 1904, with the new station — a single-story structure with an attached freight house — opened soon after. The SP began work on a new station, estimated to cost $11,000 (), in August 1914. It opened in September 1915, with the old station relocated west for use as a freight house. The new station was a larger wooden structure with porticos at both ends. The East Shore and Suburban Railway (later a
Key System The Key System (or Key Route) was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area ...
subsidiary) opened from the Standard Oil refinery to the SP station on July 7, 1904. An extension eastwards along Macdonald Avenue opened in October 1905, crossing the SP tracks at grade. A city ordinance disallowed streetcars from crossing the SP tracks with passengers aboard, forcing passengers to cross the tracks on foot. A $35,000 contract () was issued on September 1, 1907, for construction of an underpass to take Macdonald Avenue and the streetcars under the SP tracks. The underpass opened on May 10, 1908. Streetcars were replaced with Key System buses — later part of
AC Transit AC Transit is the main Public transport bus service, bus transit operator in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. AC Transit is the third largest bus operator in California, serving the western portions of Alameda and C ...
 — in 1933. Even as intercity rail service began to decline, Richmond was served by SP trains on the Shasta Route, Overland Route, and Central Valley routes, plus Santa Fe service to the Central Valley at its Richmond station. The SP station building was closed on August 30, 1968, and demolished shortly afterward for BART construction, leaving passengers with only a platform. SP service to Richmond on the '' San Joaquin Daylight'' continued until May 1, 1971, when
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 ...
took over intercity passenger service.


BART station

As early as 1957, Richmond was identified as a likely terminus for a line of a proposed regional rapid transit system. The
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 and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...
(BART) system was approved by voters in November 1962. The BART Board approved the name "Richmond" in December 1965. The station was originally to be located at 6th Street and Macdonald Avenue west of downtown, but this was changed to 16th Street and Nevin Avenue (along the SP line) to allow construction of a rail yard north of the station and permit future extension. After tension between the Bay Area Rapid Transit District and the city, an agreement to use the latter site was reached in May 1967. The chosen BART alignment followed an ATSF branch line from to 23rd Street in Richmond, then curved north onto the SP alignment for the final into Richmond station. The tracks continued past the station to the rail yard; the grade crossing of Barrett Avenue — which was ranked the fifth-highest priority for elimination on a 1965 state list — was replaced with a road underpass. By August 1967, with about of the initial system under construction, a budget shortfall led to the possibility of portions being deferred. Among the potential cuts was Richmond station, as construction had not begun past the Alameda/ Contra Costa county line at . Not until March 1969, when the state approved a temporary sales tax to cover the shortfall, could work begin on the contracts for the remaining stations including Richmond. In June 1968, the original design for an elevated concourse was replaced with an underground concourse in response to objections from city officials. The station was built by Rothschild & Raffin, which also constructed the Richmond Yard and several other BART stations, at a cost of $2.3 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The construction of Richmond station was credited by local officials as the key piece of downtown redevelopment efforts. BART service to Richmond began on January 29, 1973; it has remained a terminus since. (An extension to Crockett was considered in 1991 but not pursued.) BART service to Richmond was initially only on the Richmond–Fremont line (now the Orange Line). Some direct service to San Francisco (today's Red Line) began in April 1976; all-day service began on July 7, 1980, after BART was able to reduce train spacing through the
Transbay Tube The Transbay Tube is an underwater rail tunnel that carries Bay Area Rapid Transit's four transbay lines under San Francisco Bay between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California, Oakland in California. The tube is long, and attaches ...
.


Amtrak station

Unlike other large cities, the Bay Area did not have a convenient transfer location between Amtrak intercity service and local rapid transit; 16th Street station in Oakland was not located near a BART station. The introduction of the '' San Joaquin'' service in 1974 added a third round trip to the SP mainline north of Oakland. A $667,000 Amtrak station adjacent to the BART station opened for use by the ''San Joaquin'' plus the long-distance ''
San Francisco Zephyr The ''San Francisco Zephyr'' was an Amtrak passenger train that ran between Chicago and Oakland, California, Oakland from June 1972 to July 1983, when it was renamed to the California Zephyr History From the start of Amtrak in spring 1971 unti ...
'' and ''
Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a Amtrak Long Distance, long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland, Oregon, Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, ...
'' on October 30, 1977. It included two 18-car-long platforms, with stairs and an elevator from a small station building to the under-track passage. Amtrak service gradually expanded; a second ''San Joaquin'' was added in 1980, and the '' Capitols'' (now ''Capitol Corridor'') service began in 1991. Richmond was also served by the '' Spirit of California'', which ran from 1981 to 1983. Disagreements between
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
and Amtrak over funding delayed the addition of a station agent until September 1982. The ''Coast Starlight'' ceased to stop at Richmond in April 1996, followed by the ''California Zephyr'' (successor to the ''San Francisco Zephyr'') in October 1998. Richmond was the only transfer point between Amtrak and BART until the Amtrak platform at
Oakland Coliseum station The station complex of Amtrak's Oakland Coliseum station and Bay Area Rapid Transit, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)'s Coliseum station is located in the East Oakland, Oakland, California, East Oakland area of Oakland, California, United States. ...
(which is served only by the ''Capitol Corridor'') opened in 2005.


Renovations

The Amtrak station building was closed on December 1, 1997, though trains continued to stop. On April 12, 2000, BART and the city broke ground on a "transit village", a mixed-use
transit-oriented development In urban planning, transit-oriented development (TOD) is a type of Real estate development, urban development that maximizes the amount of Residential area, residential, business and leisure space within Pedestrian, walking distance of public t ...
(TOD) project adjacent to the station. In July 2001, the aging Amtrak facility was replaced with a modern
island platform An island platform (also center platform (American English) or centre platform (British English)) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway inte ...
with better access to the BART pedestrian tunnel. The $1.9 million project, funded by the state, was intended to improve the station as preparation for the transit village. The developer for the transit village was chosen in 2002. A 2004 BART plan indicated that additional faregates and expansion of the paid area would be needed by 2025. The first phase of the transit village, completed in 2004, included 132 residential units and of retail space on the west side of the station. A $6.4 million renovation of the station was undertaken as part of the transit village project. The project included expanded entrances to the concourse, with a canopy over the west entrance. Richmond station was officially named the Richmond Transit Center at a dedication ceremony on October 18, 2007. A BART ticket window opened at the station in August 2008, joining seven other major stations in the system. The 750-space parking garage opened on May 30, 2013, with the surface lot on the east side of the station closed at that time. The two long-distance trains began stopping at Richmond again on November 8, 2010. However, the ''Coast Starlight'' stop was again discontinued on January 14, 2013 because the train was scheduled to arrive at night – if it was several hours late, passengers would be unable to exit through the concourse, which is locked outside of BART service hours. In 2018, BART and CCJPA installed a "courtesy light" on the Amtrak platform, which instructs northbound ''Capitol Corridor'' trains to hold for two minutes if a BART train is arriving to allow passengers to make their connection. Reconstruction of the Amtrak platform and stairs for accessibility began in FY 2023 and is planned for completion in FY 2025. Installation of second-generation BART faregates at the station took place from September 3–13, 2024. , a second phase of the transit village is planned with 520 residential units on the east side of the station. BART indicates "significant market, local support, and/or implementation barriers" that must be overcome to allow TOD over the busway. That third phase of development would not begin until at least the mid-2030s.


References


External links


Richmond – BARTRichmond – Capitol Corridor
{{Bay Area Rail Stations Amtrak stations in Contra Costa County, California Stations on the Orange Line (BART) Stations on the Red Line (BART) Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Contra Costa County, California Bus stations in Contra Costa County, California Buildings and structures in Richmond, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 1973 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1977 Transit centers in the United States Former Southern Pacific Railroad stations in California