Coaster Commuter

The COASTER commuter train provides breathtaking coastal scenery as it runs north and south through San Diego County, serving eight stations between Oceanside and downtown San Diego. More than 20 trains run on weekdays, with additional service on the weekends. It takes about an hour to travel the entire COASTER route.

North County Transit District

Union Station, also known as the “Santa Fe Depot,” has served residents and visitors to San Diego for more than a century. Located in the heart of downtown near the cruise ship piers and other bayside attractions, the station anchors the larger Santa Fe Place, named after the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad (ATSF) that conceived and built the station from 1914–1915. The 15 acres around the building are being developed as a new mixed-use quarter that will enliven the city center and fill in empty parcels with shops, residential units, and office space.

Due to its role as a major transportation hub for southern California, San Diego often ranks among the top ten busiest stations in the national Amtrak network; the Pacific Surfliner is one of the most popular Amtrak routes. Many travelers remember the rows of palms that line the platforms at the Santa Fe Depot and stretch to the horizon.

The new Santa Fe Depot was designed by the San Francisco firm of Bakewell and Brown. The partners had both worked for Bernard Maybeck in the San Francisco Bay area where he was known for his singular Arts and Crafts aesthetic. Arthur Brown, Jr. was also a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts where he learned the principles of neoclassical architecture and space planning. While they were working on the San Diego station, the duo was also finishing the design for the San Francisco Civic Center, considered one of the country’s finest Beaux-Arts complexes.

Great American Stations