The main BART station opened in 1972, serving the then-new Oakland Coliseum and surrounding East Oakland neighborhood. The Amtrak platform was added in 2005, providing a connection between BART and Amtrak's Capitol Corridor service. In 2014, the complex became the terminus of the Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line, thus connecting Oakland International Airport to rail transit. The station also serves as a transfer point for AC Transit buses and business park shuttles.
History
A Capitol Corridor train at Oakland Coliseum in November 2017Aerial view of the station complex
Amtrak's long-distance Coast Starlight service has used the Union Pacific right-of-way since its inception in 1971, but served only the main downtown stops in Oakland at 16th Street station, then Jack London Squarestation when it replaced the former. Capitol Corridor service began in 1991, but did not initially stop at the Oakland Coliseum site.[1] In 2002, the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), in conjunction with Caltrans and the City of Oakland, decided to build a Capitol Corridor station at Oakland Coliseum.[1] The new $6 million Oakland Coliseum station opened on June 6, 2005; it included a newly built accessible connection to the original BART-Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum pedestrian bridge, facilitating a grade separated transfer between the Capitol Corridor and BART.[1]
BART considered plans for a rail link to the airport as early as 1970, including a bi-directional loop off the main line, but planning did not gain strength until the early 1990s.[14][15] Oakland City Council approved the 3.2-mile (5.1 km) Oakland Airport Connectorautomated guideway transit line in 2009, and construction on the line began in October 2010.[16][15] The now renamed Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line's Coliseum station opened along with the rest of the line on November 21, 2014, and AirBART service was subsequently discontinued, although AC Transit still provides a bus connection between the station and the airport at all times. The conventional BART station's name reverted to Coliseum, allowing the Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line's terminus station at the airport to be named Oakland International Airport station.[17][18]
On April 4, 2019, the Coliseum Connections Transit-oriented development was completed on a 1.3-acre site adjacent to the eastern side of the BART station in a joint venture between Coliseum Development Partners, Coliseum Transit Village One, LP, the Oakland Economic Development Corporation (OEDC), and UrbanCore Development. Planned since 2002, construction on the development began 15 years later in November 2017, and was finished after just 17 months through the use of modular construction, with 179 modular units being stacked together to complete the project. The development consists of 110 mixed-income units on a site that was formerly used as a parking lot for the BART station and is currently being leased from BART by the developers on a long-term basis.[19][20][21][22]
The pedestrian bridge connects the sports venues to the Amtrak station (shown) and BART station
Amtrak station
The Amtrak station is an unstaffed grade-level station at the western end of the 73rd Avenue cul-de-sac with few passenger amenities beyond separate sets of benches sheltered by open-air canopies; a formerly-present QuikTrakticket machine was removed due to vandalism issues.[24] The Union Pacific Railroad's Niles Subdivision has three tracks at the station – two mainline tracks used by Union Pacific freight trains (and the Coast Starlight), and a siding track with a single side platform serving Capitol Corridor trains.[3] Oakland Coliseum is primarily served by through trains between Sacramento and San Jose, but also functions as a part-time terminal for some Capitol Corridor service traveling to/from Sacramento. Capitol Corridor trains regularly meet at the CP 66th Avenue and CP Coliseum interlockings immediately north and south of the station respectively since the service's operation is primarily single-tracked between Oakland and San Jose. An accessible ramp structure connects the platform to the pedestrian bridge.[25]
The BART station is a three-level elevated station, with fare control and concessions located on the ground level east of San Leandro Street underneath the northern end of the platform.[25] Conventional BART trains serve an island platform between two tracks on the elevated second level. Union Pacific's grade-level Oakland Subdivision parallels BART immediately to the east, separating the station from the adjacent Coliseum neighborhood.[26] A stairlift-equipped accessible pedestrian underpass tunnel runs underneath the Union Pacific right-of-way and connects the fare control area with the parking area and Snell Street.[25][27] A taxi stand is located along the western side of San Leandro Street just north of 71st Avenue, with a secondary taxi loading zone also located along the eastern side of Snell Street near the bicycle locker area.
The Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line (Beige Line) has one track and one side platform on the third level, with a connection and fare control from the southern end of the main BART platform. It has no direct non-emergency street access and can only be reached from the main BART platform.[25] Unlike conventional BART stations, platform screen doors provide a barrier between the platform and the guideway of the driverless system, making Coliseum one of the first BART stations to feature platform screen doors. The fare for the Coliseum–Oakland International Airport line is charged at Coliseum in both directions.[28]
The walls of the platform area include A-Round Oakland by Gordon Huether. The $300,000 artwork consists of around 50 colorful dichroic glass circle ranging from 18–36 inches (460–910 mm) in diameter.[29]
The Oakland Coliseum station is (along with Fruitvale station) one of the main bus-railinterchanges for East Oakland, and is served 24/7 by various bus services connecting the station with surrounding neighborhoods. It is served by eight AC Transit bus routes, which stop on both sides of San Leandro Street at the station:[25][30]
Several fare-free local shuttle routes stop at the BART passenger loading zone on the southeastern corner of San Leandro Street and 71st Avenue.[25] The Alameda CountyEast Oakland Shuttle connects the station with county offices at Eastmont Town Center, Edgewater Drive, and Enterprise Way.[31] The nearby Harbor Bay Business Park also offers a pair of shuttle bus routes to the station.[32][33]
AC Transit: 45, 46L, 73, 90, 98, 646, 657, 805
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