San Francisco 4th and King Street station

San Francisco 4th and King Street, 4th and King[2] (previously 4th & Townsend), or Caltrain Depot is the north end of the Caltrain commuter rail line to the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley, and is a major area transit hub. It is next to a Muni Metro light rail station, which provides connections to downtown San Francisco and Bay Area Rapid Transit.

San Francisco
4th and King Street station seen from an I-280 off-ramp in 2019
Location	700 Fourth Street at King Street San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°46′35″N 122°23′40″W
Owned by	Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Line(s)	Peninsula Subdivision (Caltrain[1]
Platforms	6 island platforms (Caltrain) 2 island platforms, 2 side platforms (Muni)[2]
Tracks	13 (Caltrain) 4 (Muni)[2]
Connections	Flixbus Muni: 10, 30, 45, 47, 81X, 82X, 83X, KT Bus, N Owl, N Bus
Construction
Parking	None
Bicycle facilities	180 lockers 22 racks
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	Fare Zone 1 (Caltrain)
History
Opened	1975 (Caltrain) 1998 (Muni)
Passengers
2018	15,427 (Caltrain mid-weekday average)[3]  1.5% (Caltrain)
Services Preceding station Caltrain Following station Terminus Local 22nd Street toward San Jose Diridon, Tamien or Gilroy Limited Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern A Millbrae toward San Jose Diridon Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern B Millbrae toward Tamien Preceding station Muni Following station 2nd and King towards Ocean Beach N Judah Terminus 2nd and King towards San Jose and Geneva (Balboa Park) T Third Street Mission Rock towards Sunnydale 4th and Brannan Opening 2021 towards Chinatown 2nd and King towards Jones and Beach E Embarcadero Terminus
Proposed service Preceding station California High-Speed Rail Following station Terminus Phase I (2031 Service) Millbrae towards Bakersfield Preceding station Caltrain Following station Downtown Rail Extension (Proposed) Salesforce Transit Center Terminus Local 22nd Street toward San Jose Diridon, Tamien or Gilroy Limited Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern A Millbrae toward San Jose Diridon Baby Bullet Peak, Pattern B Millbrae toward Tamien
Track layout Caltrain Central Subway (2021) 13 tracks 4th Street I-280 King Street
Location

History

Southern Pacific's 3rd and Townsend terminal was replaced in 1975 by the current station.

The station is in the Mission Bay/China Basin area, bordered on the north by Townsend Street, east by 3rd Street, west by 4th Street and south by King Street. It opened on June 21, 1975, replacing a station built in 1914 at 3rd and Townsend, one block away.

4th & King is one block from Oracle Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants. Caltrain runs extra trains on game days to shuttle fans to and from the ballpark.

The Muni extension to the station was opened in 1998.[4]

Future

The Downtown Rail Extension project to the rebuilt Transbay Terminal includes the construction of an underground 4th and King station. The underground portion will be adjacent the current station on the Townsend side,[5] but Caltrain will continue using the surface platforms.[6] Until that time, California High-Speed Rail trains are planned to utilize the existing station with modifications for that service.[6][7][8]

Muni service

N Judah trains at 4th and King

4th and King hosts a number of Muni bus lines, the E Embarcadero historic streetcar line, and Muni's T Third Street and N Judah lines run to Market St downtown. The N Judah station platform is located on the median of King Street immediately southwest of the 4th and King intersection, while The T Third Street station platform is located on the median of 4th Street immediately southeast of the intersection.[2]

N Judah service replaced the J Church on June 30, 2007, two months after the J Church replaced the N Judah on April 7, 2007, on the Caltrain connection to downtown following the opening of the T line. The nearest BART access is the Powell Street station, a 1-mile (1.6 km) walk up 4th street then left on Market St.

Service to Chinatown via Muni's Central Subway will connect to this station in 2022 after a realignment of the T Third Street line's route.[9]

References

1. SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 13.
2. San Francisco Municipal Railway Route Map (Map). San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. December 5, 2009. Archived from the original on February 23, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2010.
3. "2018 Annual Count Key Findings Report" (PDF). Caltrain. 2018.
4. Epstein, Edward (26 August 1998). "Brown Tries To Soothe Muni Riders / Service on N-Judah line has been abysmal all week". Hearst Communications. SFGate. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
5. Caltrain 2025 North Terminal Plan
6. "San Francisco to San Jose Project Section Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement Volume 1 Chapter 2" (PDF). CHSRA. July 2020. p. 2-5. Retrieved 20 July 2020.
7. "Caltrain/California HSR Blended Operations Analysis" (PDF). Caltrain.com. LTK Engineering Services. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
8. Thadani, Trisha (10 July 2020). "Plan for high-speed rail rolls out for San Francisco to San Jose - but with little cash". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
9. "Project Overview [Central Subway]". San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).

External links

Media related to San Francisco 4th and King Street station at Wikimedia Commons

• Caltrain - San Francisco station