Palo Alto (Caltrain station)

Palo Alto
Commuter rail
The rear of the station.
Location	95 University Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301
Coordinates	37°26′36″N 122°09′55″W / 37.443442°N 122.165196°W / 37.443442; -122.165196Coordinates: 37°26′36″N 122°09′55″W / 37.443442°N 122.165196°W / 37.443442; -122.165196
Owned by	Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Line(s)	Caltrain   Local service   Limited-stop service   Baby Bullet
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	VTA Bus Routes: 22, 35, 522 Dumbarton Express Caltrain Shuttles: Embarcadero & Crosstown Stanford University: Marguerite Shuttle Samtrans ECR, 280, 281, 297, 397
Construction
Parking	Available
Bicycle facilities	Racks available
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	October 1940
Traffic
Passengers (2016)	7,424 per weekday  3.2%
Services
Preceding station   Caltrain   Following station Menlo Park toward San Francisco Local service California Avenue toward Tamien Gilroy during peak hours Stanford (game days only) toward Tamien Gilroy during peak hours Limited-stop service California Avenue toward Tamien Gilroy during peak hours San Carlos toward San Francisco Limited-stop service Hillsdale toward San Francisco Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern A Mountain View toward San Jose Diridon Redwood City toward San Francisco Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern B Sunnyvale toward Tamien Hillsdale toward San Francisco Baby Bullet Reverse Peak, Pattern A Mountain View toward San Jose Diridon Menlo Park toward San Francisco Baby Bullet Reverse Peak, Pattern B
Palo Alto Southern Pacific Railroad Depot
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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Location	Palo Alto, California
Coordinates	37°26′34.82″N 122°9′53.56″W / 37.4430056°N 122.1648778°W / 37.4430056; -122.1648778
Built	1931
Architect	John H. Christie
Architectural style	Streamline Moderne
NRHP Reference #	96000425
Added to NRHP	April 18, 1996

Palo Alto is the main train station in Palo Alto, California and the second busiest in the Caltrain system after the 4th and King Street Station in downtown San Francisco. It is a regional transit center where passengers can take buses serving Santa Clara County (VTA), San Mateo County (SamTrans) and Stanford University (Marguerite Shuttle), as well as Caltrain commuters; in addition the Dumbarton Express bus administered by AC Transit takes passengers back and forth over the Dumbarton Bridge to Union City BART station in the East Bay. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its architectural significance.

The station building is across the tracks from Alma Street, with a car entrance to the parking lot at Alma Street and Lytton Avenue. Daily parking is $5. It is on the west side of Downtown Palo Alto and offers easy access to the downtown Palo Alto Area and the Stanford University campus. It is one of two stations in Palo Alto; the other is farther south at Alma and California Avenue. On December 11, 2009, Cafe Venetia opened inside the historic Palo Alto train station.

The station is in the Streamline Moderne style which has connections with American history and is not typically found in Palo Alto. During the 1920s and 1930s most significant buildings in town were designed by a local architect, Birge Clark, who usually worked in the Mission Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival styles. The other major buildings of that era, such as large commercial blocks and apartment buildings, the main Post Office, the Community Center and other civic buildings were Mission Revival or Spanish Colonial Revival styles.