The new Hillsdale Caltrain station in San Mateo opened Monday, featuring an elevated boarding platform, on-demand bicycle eLockers and connections to SamTrans bus routes.
The new station is located between 28th and 31st avenues, four blocks north of its last location. Riders can access the new station at 28th Avenue and via the pedestrian underpass.
The new station features east-west connections for traffic on 28th and 31st Avenues, two parking lots, bike racks, ticket vending machines, Clipper card readers, sheltered seating and accessible waiting areas.
The station was upgraded as part of the 25th Avenue Grade Separation project, which involves separating the train tracks from the road at 25th, 28th and 31st avenues to help improve safety for pedestrians and vehicles and eliminate traffic at surrounding streets.
To service the new Hillsdale station, Caltrain adjusted its schedules Monday as follows: On weekdays, the Hillsdale station will see service every half hour while weeknights and weekends will have hourly service. The Belmont station will receive hourly service on weekdays and weekends.
The Hillsdale/Belmont Shuttle, which had been operative before new Hillsdale station reopened, has been discontinued. But shuttles that served the Belmont station will continue until 25th Avenue reopens in late summer. Paid parking at the Belmont station will resume and free SamTrans connections for Caltrain riders will no longer be available.
“Caltrain is turning into the modern rail system the Bay Area deserves and the new Hillsdale Station captures much of what that means,” Caltrain Board Chair and San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis said in a statement. “It’s safer, more convenient, more accessible, more beautiful and more interconnected with the community around it.”
The 25th Avenue Grade Separation project is a collaboration between Caltrain and the city of San Mateo.
More information about the new station and schedule changes can be found online.