Riverside – Downtown station

Riverside
Amtrak and Metrolink (Southern California) train station
Metrolink #887 waits at the station's south platform.
Location	4066 Vine Street Riverside, CA 92507 United States
Coordinates
Owned by	Riverside County Transportation Commission
Line(s)	BNSF Railway
Platforms	1 side platform, 2 island platforms
Tracks	6
Connections	Riverside Transit Agency
Construction
Parking	710 free spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	RIV
History
Opened	1993
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	12,431  1.9% (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station   Amtrak   Following station Fullerton toward Los Angeles Southwest Chief San Bernardino toward Chicago Riverside-La Sierra toward Los Angeles Union Station 91 Line Terminus Riverside – Hunter Park (future extension) toward Riverside – Downtown Pedley toward Los Angeles Union Station Riverside Line Terminus San Bernardino Terminus Inland Empire–Orange County Line Riverside-La Sierra toward Oceanside
Location

The Joseph Tavaglione Riverside – Downtown Station is a train station in Riverside, California, United States that opened in 1993. It is served by one Amtrak intercity rail line and three Metrolink commuter rail lines, as well as Riverside Transit Agency buses and Amtrak Thruway and Megabus coach service. The station is owned by the Riverside County Transportation Commission, and is referred to as Riverside by Amtrak and as Riverside – Downtown by Metrolink.

History

The current station opened on June 14, 1993, returning rail service to Riverside following the closure of the Santa Fe depot in 1984. The original depot, built in 1927, still stands a few blocks north of the current station. The original depot was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The Southwest Chief added a stop in Riverside in April 2002, after 18 years of not stopping at Riverside.

In December 2012, the station was renamed after Joseph Tavaglione, a local businessman and chair of the California Transportation Commission.

Current services

The Southwest Chief provides one train per day in each direction through the station, one to Los Angeles and one to Chicago, which boards from the station's South platform. In conjunction with the California Department of Transportation, Amtrak California also provides two Thruway Motorcoach routes: to Bakersfield, with connections to the San Joaquins for the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento; and to Fullerton, with connections to the Pacific Surfliner for San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego.

Megabus began providing service from the station to the South Strip Transfer Center in Las Vegas on December 12, 2012.

The station is a hub for Metrolink commuter rail, with three lines serving the station on weekdays, and two on weekends. Trains traveling to and from Orange County board from the South platform, which is accessible via a bridge over the tracks. All weekend trains board on the South platform, across the bridge.

No ticketing agents are on site. Tickets for Metrolink may be purchased from the ticket vending machines located on all platforms. All Amtrak services require advanced reservations, but tickets can be picked up from Metrolink's ticket machines once reservations have been made either online or via telephone. Megabus reservations can only be made on their web site.

The Riverside Transit Agency provides free connecting transit service to Metrolink (but not Amtrak) passengers at the station on routes 1 and 16. The station is also a key link in the agency's CommuterLink express bus system, with routes 208, 210, and 212 providing connections to Temecula, Banning and Hemet respectively. These routes are also free with a valid Metrolink ticket or pass.

Platforms and tracks

North platforms	■ Riverside Line	toward L.A. Union Station (Pedley)
Center tracks	■ Bypass/Freight lines	No passenger service
South platforms	■ Southwest Chief	toward Los Angeles (Fullerton)
	■ Southwest Chief	toward Chicago (San Bernardino)
	■ 91 Line	toward L.A. Union Station (Riverside–La Sierra)
	■ Inland Empire–Orange County Line	toward Oceanside (Riverside–La Sierra)
	■ Inland Empire–Orange County Line	toward San Bernardino (Terminus)

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons

• Amtrak – Stations – Riverside, CA
• Metrolink – Riverside-Downtown
• Riverside Amtrak-Metrolink Station (USA Rail Guide -- TrainWeb)
• Picture of the Santa Fe depot from Flickr
• Riverside (RIV)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)