Caltrain to close Atherton Station

Caltrain’s board last week voted to close its rail station in Atherton, California, due to low ridership and dated infrastructure.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atherton Station received limited weekend-only service and averaged 114 passengers per weekend day. Weekday service to the station was cut in 2005 due to low demand.

The station's old platform configuration does not meet current standards and has limited operations, Caltrain officials said in a press release. Trains traveling in one direction are required to wait while riders board a train operating in the opposing direction at the station.

Removing the station would improve travel time through the area by as much as three minutes, agency officials said.

The closure will also enable Caltrain to reallocate service to nearby stations such as Menlo Park and Redwood City, which have higher rates of existing ridership and where denser land uses are projected to generate higher levels of demand for future rail service, agency officials said.

If kept in operation, the station would ultimately require an approximately $30 million upgrade to meet modern standards and prevent disruption of the expanded service that will come following the electrification of the corridor by 2040.

Earlier this month, town of Atherton officials endorsed the station's closure. 

The station is slated to close on Dec. 1, CBS San Francisco reported.