Millbrae station

Description

Millbrae Station is the largest intermodal terminal in the United States west of the Mississippi (the under-construction Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco will be larger when completed). It has three ground-level tracks for BART and two for Caltrain. An island platform allows a cross-platform connection between the two systems (for traveling to San Francisco or the San Francisco International Airport). A concourse mezzanine is above the platforms. Currently two BART tracks and one island platform usually are kept out of regular service, used instead to hold train sets that are also out of service.

The station is also a regional bus transit hub with multiple bus bays served by several SamTrans lines.

Millbrae Station has about 2,900 parking spaces, including a five-story parking garage and surrounding surface parking. Except for the marked Reserved Parking areas, most parking is currently $3/day from 4am-3pm on weekdays for up to 24 hours at a time, and all parking (including the weekday reserved) is free without time restrictions on Saturday, Sunday, and holidays that fall on Friday or Monday. The Reserved Parking areas cost $2/day from 10am-3pm on weekdays. Like at other BART stations with paid parking, BART patrons can do parking validations and parking payments inside the BART paid area of the station; since Caltrain patrons use the same parking spaces, there are parking payment machines outside of the BART paid area of the station.

A free Library-a-Go-Go Peninsula Library System library book vending machine was added in May 2011.

BART service

The station is the terminal station for BART on the San Francisco Peninsula, with primary service by the BART Richmond–Daly City/Millbrae line (i.e. on weekdays before 7:00pm); on nights and weekends, the station is served instead by the BART Pittsburg/Bay Point–SFO/Millbrae line. Currently there is no direct train service to SFO airport from Millbrae station on weekdays during peak hours; instead, a timed transfer to an airport-bound BART train is provided north of Millbrae, at the San Bruno Station, during the day on weekdays.

Caltrain service

The station has daily Caltrain commuter rail service along the north/south line between San Jose and San Francisco. Midday trains are hourly each way; service is more frequent during commute hours and for special events (such as San Francisco Giants home games) and is less frequent at night. Service south of San Jose to Gilroy is limited to three weekday commute-hour round trips.

Payment for BART-Caltrain transfers

Passengers who transfer from BART to Caltrain (or vice versa) have to remember that Caltrain uses a proof-of-payment system: each rider must buy a ticket prior to boarding the train that may or may not be checked during the trip. Passengers who board the train without a viable ticket are subject to fines of up to $250 plus court fees.

Passengers who use the electronic Clipper card to ride the Caltrain must remember to "tag on" their card prior to boarding and "tag off" their card after exiting the train. If they board the train without tagging on, they will be subject to the same fines. In addition, Caltrain passengers are charged the maximum one way fare when they tag on prior to boarding the train and the difference is reimbursed when they tag off after leaving the train. If passengers who use the Clipper card forget to tag off when they exit the train, they will be charged "the highest cash fare from [their] point of origin."

CA High Speed Rail (planned)

In 2015, construction began on the high-speed rail system. If completed as planned, Millbrae would serve as one of one or two stations between San Francisco and San Jose, and would allow high-speed rail passengers to reach SFO via BART. $290 million has been allocated to lengthen the platforms for connection to High Speed Rail, and the purchase of additional BART cars.

History

The 1907 Southern Pacific Railroad Millbrae depot, a two-story colonnade-style depot, was on the southeast side of Millbrae Avenue, just northwest of where it is now; the building now houses the Millbrae Train Museum that opened in 2004. Before the Millbrae Intermodal Terminal was built for the BART San Mateo Extension terminus Millbrae had a free Caltrain shuttle bus between the station and San Francisco International Airport. (The trip is now only available via taxicab or BART, costing $4.25 via the latter as of July 2014.)

The former Southern Pacific Depot has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since September 1, 1978. In 1985 Caltrain service began at the original Millbrae depot, replacing Southern Pacific trains that had operated along the San Francisco Peninsula since the early 20th century (see Peninsula Commute). Caltrain moved to the new facility in spring 2003, and BART joined Caltrain at the new station on June 22, 2003 as part of the BART San Mateo County Extension project that extended BART service south from Colma to Millbrae and San Francisco International Airport.

Transit connections

Two SamTrans bus lines stop at and near the station, including:

The station is also served by several shuttle routes, including the Burlingame Shuttle, a local shuttle service serving attractions around Burlingame, and one serving Genentech's South San Francisco campus.