San Luis Obispo station is served by four Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (two in each direction) and two Coast Starlight trains (one in each direction).[6][7]
In Fiscal Year 2023, 109,784 passengers boarded or detrained at San Luis Obispo station.[5]
History
San Luis Obispo station in September 1987
The present Spanish Colonial Revival architecture style depot was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad and opened on September 5, 1943.[4] It replaced the original SP depot, located just south of the current one, which opened on May 4, 1894. After the present depot opened, the former depot was then used for freight until it was shuttered in 1968. It was demolished to make room for a parking lot in 1971.
For most of Amtrak's first three decades, the station was only served by the Coast Starlight, which ran southbound in the afternoon and northbound in mid-morning. In 1995, Amtrak and CalTrans extended the San Diegan all the way to San Luis Obispo. That route had long been a Los Angeles–San Diego service, but had been extended up the Central Coast to provide that region with additional service to Los Angeles. The San Diegan was rebranded as the Pacific Surfliner five years later.
The station has room for a single Surfliner passenger train adjacent to the station to hold overnight for a morning departure from San Luis Obispo.[8] The Los Angeles – San Diego – San Luis Obispo (LOSSAN) Rail Corridor Agency is planning an expanded facility on the Union Pacific property just south of the station. This property still contains the foundation of the Southern Pacific roundhouse and the pit where the turntable resided until 1994. The proposed layout of the CCLF would require destruction of most of these historic landmarks, and prevent the future rebuilding of the railroad facility for historic and public use. The proposed additional storage and maintenance capacity will also allow a second train to layover and provide for future expansion of service.[9]
