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  • 21 Aug, 2019

  • By, Wikipedia

Gilroy Rail Station
Gilroy station is a Caltrain station located in Gilroy, California, United States. It is the southern terminus of the South County Connector service, and is only served during weekday rush hours in the peak direction, with trains going toward San Jose in the morning and returning southbound in the evening. The station building was constructed by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1918 and restored in 1998. Future plans call for extended Amtrak Capitol Corridor service, as well as California High-Speed Rail trains, to also stop at Gilroy. The station was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 as Gilroy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot.

History

Southern Pacific

The first Gilroy station, similar to the depot still extant at Santa Clara, opened on April 8, 1869 under the Santa Clara and Pajaro Valley Railroad. A water tower, turntable, and three-stall engine house were built in 1882.

The original station was replaced with a two-story Italian Renaissance structure — framed with local redwood and covered in cement plaster — in 1918 by the Southern Pacific Railroad. Service reductions began in 1929; the engine house was closed in 1934, though the turntable remained in use through the 1950s. The final service to the station was the Del Monte, which ran until April 30, 1971. Amtrak intercity service, including the Coast Starlight, passed through the station without stopping.

Caltrain

Caltrain at Gilroy in 2018

On July 1, 1992, two daily Caltrain round trips were extended from San Jose Diridon station to Gilroy. This was increased to four daily round trips with the opening of a layover yard adjacent to the station in February 1994. In 1998, the city restored the station building as the centerpiece of the $2.8 million Gilroy Transit Center, which also included parking lots and a bus plaza. One waiting room was reopened for use by Greyhound. In July 2005, Caltrain reduced service to three daily round trips.

Even before 1992, Caltrain operated a special limited-stop train from San Francisco to Gilroy on the weekend of the Gilroy Garlic Festival, with shuttle buses between the station and the festival. This service ended in 2002 when Caltrain temporarily suspended all weekend train service for the CTX project, and was not resumed when weekend service was restored in 2004. The Golden Gate Railroad Museum chartered weekend trains to Gilroy during the festival for a few years, but those charters were later discontinued. The "Garlic Train" resumed service beginning with the 2013 Garlic Festival.

The station was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 as Gilroy Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. Gilroy service was increased to four weekday round trips on September 25, 2023.

Future plans

The Road Repair and Accountability Act provided funding for an extension of Caltrain service to Salinas station, followed by Amtrak Capitol Corridor service later. The dead-end platform track at Gilroy station will be extended south to reconnect with the mainline.

The planned California High-Speed Rail system will have a station in Gilroy. Two sites were under consideration: the existing Gilroy station, and a currently undeveloped area northeast of the city center (east of Gilroy Premium Outlets). The High Speed Rail Authority identified an at-grade option at the existing station as their preferred alternative in 2020.

Bus connections

Gilroy station is a hub for local and intercity bus service:

References

  1. ^ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 5.
  2. ^ Pearce, Michael (August 2017). Santa Clara Valley's Railroad Lines (PDF) (Report). Sourisseau Academy. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  3. ^ Duncan, Mark (October 4, 2005). "The San Francisco Peninsula Railroad Passenger Service: Past, Present, and Future" (PDF). pp. 18, 93–94. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "2018 Annual Count Key Findings Report" (PDF). Caltrain. 2018. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 20, 2020. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  5. ^ "New S.P. Station at Gilroy is Dedicated". Oakland Tribune. May 1, 1918. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "The Del Monte Passenger Train". Monterey Public Library. February 10, 2014. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  7. ^ "Western Division Timetable #13" (PDF). Southern Pacific Company. March 29, 1970. pp. 2, 5.
  8. ^ Cohen, Gail. "How to Prepare for the Gilroy Garlic Festival". USA Today.
  9. ^ @Caltrain (June 6, 2013). "Garlic Train to roll to @gilroygarlicfes July 27 & 28. #yum" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "Weekly List 20190712". National Park Service. July 12, 2019.
  11. ^ "Caltrain to Operate New Schedule Starting this Fall" (Press release). Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board. September 13, 2023.
  12. ^ Johnson, Jim (May 9, 2018). "Salinas commuter rail extension project gets $10 million SB 1 gas tax grant". Monterey Herald.
  13. ^ "Gilroy Station Track Project" (PDF). Transportation Agency for Monterey County. October 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "California High-Speed Rail Authority Awards Station-Area Planning Funds to the City of Gilroy" (PDF) (Press release). California High-Speed Rail Authority. July 23, 2014.
  15. ^ Soloaga, Isabel (June 19, 2020). "Huge California High-Speed Rail project raises local concerns". Gilroy Life. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  16. ^ "VTA South County". Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. January 1, 2018. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved August 9, 2018.
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