The Caltrain Board on Thursday voted to officially close Atherton’s station and end any weekend service at the lightly-used station after reaching an agreement with the town earlier in the year.
Caltrain decided to close the station because of low ridership, the opportunity to move services and resources to busier stations and to avoid costly station improvements that would cost more than it would be worth, according to a Caltrain staff report. The closure will also improve traffic circulation, reduce noise impacts in town and allows Caltrain to reallocate resources to the nearby Menlo Park and Redwood City stations. The Atherton City Council favored the closure to ensure better integration for the Atherton’s Civic Center redevelopment project. The Atherton station before the pandemic only had weekend service after Caltrain cut weekday service in 2005. The station earlier in the year only had an average of 114 passengers per weekend day, with trains arriving every 90 minutes.
The Atherton station is also a center boarding station, meaning its platforms are arranged for pedestrians to cross the tracks to get to the platform. At center boarding stations, trains must wait to see if there is another train in the opposite direction boarding — what’s called the “holdout” rule. If Caltrain decided to keep the station open, they would have had to renovate to eliminate the “holdout” rule and meet new standards, which would cost around $30 million.
Caltrain faces financial challenges in the current and 2022 budget year that could worsen if ridership recovery is slow. It has an $18 million budget deficit this year due to the pandemic and looked for ways to improve revenue or cut costs, including closing the Atherton station. Caltrain gets most of its funding from fares and the three counties in which it runs, but fares and funding cratered in the past few months due to the pandemic. The Atherton station closure is still contingent on approval from the federal administration review.
Caltrain Board Member Charles Stone, also the Belmont vice mayor, said on Tuesday Caltrain did not have a specific timeline for when the Atherton station might close, but construction and changes as part of the agreement with Atherton would take a little while.
“I believe this is in the best interest of Caltrain and the city of Atherton,” Stone said.
Caltrain Board Member Dave Pine, also a San Mateo County supervisor, said the closure was a win-win transaction for both Caltrain and Atherton. The negotiations took close to a year until both sides reached an agreement.
In Caltrain’s negotiations with the Atherton City Council, Pine said the city asked for safety improvements and modifications to the station area. Modifications include removing the center boarding platform, constructing a fence separating the operating right-of-way from the rest of the station property, and installing a new four-quadrant gate at the Watkins Avenue grade crossing to improve crossing safety. Caltrain is responsible for meeting and funding these obligations. It is currently seeking funding for this work. According to Caltrain, it would pay for the initial demobilization out of their budget for just above $6 million. However, larger installations, like the quad gates, would take outside grant sources, which Caltrain is seeking. Caltrain is requesting funds from the San Mateo County Transportation Authority and seeking grant funding from other state sources. It hopes the Transportation Authority provides half the funds, with the other half coming from state grants. Caltrain expects to save around $30 million because of the closure.
Pine said there are no Caltrain workers currently working at the Atherton train station, and no one from Caltrain will be displaced because of the closure. The Atherton City Council preliminarily approved the closure of the Atherton station in January. Anyone who wants more information about the closure can check the Caltrain Nov. 5 agenda packet at https://www.caltrain.com/Assets/2020-11-05+JPB+Agenda+PACKET.pdf.
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