Madera station (Amtrak)

Madera

Madera station in October 2012
Location 18770 Road 26
Madera, California 93638[1]
United States
Coordinates 37°01′21″N 120°04′30″W / 37.02250°N 120.07500°W / 37.02250; -120.07500Coordinates: 37°01′21″N 120°04′30″W / 37.02250°N 120.07500°W / 37.02250; -120.07500
Owned by Madera County
Line(s) BNSF Stockton Subdivision[2]
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Construction
Structure type At-grade
Parking 26 spaces
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Station code MDR
History
Opened 4 November 2010 (2010-11-04)
Traffic
Passengers (2015) 27,718[3] Decrease 4.4% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station
San Joaquin
toward Bakersfield
California High-Speed Rail
Merced
Terminus		   Phase I
(under construction)		   Fresno
toward Anaheim
Gilroy
toward San Francisco		    
Location
Madera
Location within California

Madera is an unstaffed train station near Madera, California that is served by Amtrak/Amtrak California's San Joaquin, which runs six times daily between Oakland or Sacramento and Bakersfield, California.[Note 1]

Description

The station is located at 18770 Road 26, approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) north of the city limits of Madera, and immediately north of the boundary of Madera Acres. It is easily accessible from Highway 99 (Golden State Highway) by taking the Cleveland Avenue interchange (Exit 155) and then heading east as Cleveland Avenue quickly curves to the north and becomes Country Club Drive. Continue north on Country Club Drive, which eventually becomes Road 26, until the station is reached (at what would be about Avenue 18¾). The Madera Golf and Country Club is located just northwest of the station.

The station has a payphone, Quik-Trak automated ticket kiosk, restrooms, and two shelters, but no indoor waiting area.[1][5] An unattended 26 space parking lot is available at the station, but long-term parking is discouraged.

Of the 78 California stations regularly served by Amtrak, Madera was the 51st-busiest in Fiscal Year 2013, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 75 passengers daily.[6]

The April 2016 revisions to California High-Speed Rail's business plan added a stop at the existing Madera station.[7] The station is not intended to be a full-service passenger station, but a transfer point to Amtrak trains, as this will be the only Phase I station in the Central Valley where both services are co-located. The addition was partially the result of comments from the public review period. Several Madera County officials praised the addition of the high-speed rail stop.[8]

Platform and track

The station has one side platform which serves the single track.

Main track ■ San Joaquin toward Oakland or Sacramento (Merced)
■ San Joaquin toward Bakersfield (Fresno)

History

Former Storey (Madera) station, December 2001

For over a hundred years the area was served by the former Storey Train Station, which was located about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) east-northeast of Madera in the community of Storey. That "station" consisted of not much more than a sign along the tracks indicating where the train would stop, if it was effectively flagged.[9] When Amtrak took over nearly all passenger rail service in the United States in 1971, there was no longer any passenger service to the area. However, in 1978 Amtrak resumed passenger rail served to the Storey Station (Madera)[Note 2] station with daily service by the San Joaquin (connecting Oakand with Bakersfield).[10] Although Amtrak substantially improved the conditions at the former Madera (Storey) station, [9] after about dozen years of service, official discussion began regarding improving the station. However, it took nearly a decade for the any action. As the project plans developed over the next decade, the option of an entirely new station was selected over improvements to the existing one.

Madera station passenger platform

In August 2010, ground was broken on this new station. The grand opening of the new Amtrak station took place on 4 November 2010,[11] but regular service did not begin until the 8th. The $2 million station project, which included a new platform, shelter, lighting, access road and landscaping, involved the city of Madera, Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Caltrans. Funding came from Madera County’s “Measure T,” a ½ cent transportation improvement sales tax, the state of California and the California Transportation Commission.[5] Over the next three years, the new station saw a nearly 25 percent increase in ridership[12] and received additional improvements to the station, including solar panels.[13][14] Since being replaced, nearly all evidence of the former Madera (Storey) station has been entirely removed.

When the new station opened, service by the San Joaquin had increased substantially from the once daily runs in each direction. By 2010 the San Joaquin ran twice daily (in each direction) between Sacramento and Bakersfield and four times daily (in each direction) between Oakland and Bakersfield.[15][16]

Notes

  1. ↑ As of 9 June 2014, the San Joaquin southbound trains (Trains 702, 712, 714, 716, 704, and 718) are scheduled to stop at 9:19 am, 10:59 am, 1:33 pm, 4:46 pm, 7:34 pm, and 9:20 pm, respectively. The northbound trains (Trains 711, 701, 713, 715, 717, and 703) are scheduled to stop at 7:14 am, 9:37 am, 12:29 pm, 3:44 pm, 6:09 pm, and 8:42 pm, respectively. The 701-704 trains originate or terminate in Sacramento and the 711-718 trains originate or terminate in Oakland.[4]
  2. ↑ During the dozen years that Amtrak served the Storey Train Station it always referred to the station as Madera, rather than Storey.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "Madera, CA (MDR)". amtrak.com. Amtrak. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  2. ↑ BNSF Subdivision Map
  3. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2015, State of California" (PDF). Amtrak. November 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
  4. ↑ "San Joaquin" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. 9 Jun 2014. pp. 2–3. Retrieved 5 Jul 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Great American Stations: Madera, CA (MDR)". greatamericanstations.com. Amtrak. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  6. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2013, State of California" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. Nov 2013. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  7. ↑ Meacham, Jody (2016-04-21). "High-speed rail authority plans to add Merced, Bakersfield to its initial service". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved 2016-04-28.
  8. ↑ Sheehan, Tim (2016-05-02). "High-speed rail plans Madera stop". Fresno Bee. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  9. 1 2 jim61773. "Madera Amtrak station". flicker.com. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  10. 1 2 Amtrak (8 Jan 1978). "Amtrak National Train Timetables". timetables.org. The Museum of Railway Timetables. p. 46. Retrieved 5 Jul 2014.
  11. ↑ "Meeting Agenda" (PDF). San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee. Retrieved 26 Oct 2010.
  12. ↑ "Amtrak Fact Sheet, FY2013, State of California" (PDF). amtrak.com. Amtrak. Nov 2013. Retrieved 29 Jun 2014.
  13. ↑ Cox, Jeremiah (21 Feb 2011). "Madera". subwaynut.com. Retrieved 5 Jul 2014.
  14. ↑ Cox, Jeremiah (19 Jan 2014). "Madera". subwaynut.com. Retrieved 5 Jul 2014.
  15. ↑ Amtrak (10 May 2010). "Amtrak System Timetable: Spring Summer 2010". timetables.org. The Museum of Railway Timetables. p. 108. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.
  16. ↑ Amtrak (10 May 2010). "Amtrak System Timetable: Spring Summer 2010". timetables.org. The Museum of Railway Timetables. p. 109. Retrieved 1 Jul 2014.

External links

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