Riverside–Downtown station

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 and Omnitrans buses and Amtrak Thruway, Megabus, and Flixbus 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.

Riverside–Downtown Riverside, CA
Amtrak and Metrolink train station
Other names	Joseph Tavaglione Riverside Downtown Station
Location	4066 Vine Street Riverside, CA 92507 United States
Coordinates	33.9757°N 117.3699°W / 33.9757; -117.3699
Owned by	Riverside County Transportation Commission
Line(s)	BNSF San Bernardino Subdivision[1]
Platforms	1 side platform, 2 island platforms
Tracks	6
Connections	Riverside Transit Agency, Omnitrans, Megabus, and Flixbus
Construction
Parking	710 free spaces
Bicycle facilities	Yes
Disabled access	Yes
Other information
Station code	RIV
History
Opened	June 14, 1993 (1993-06-14)
Traffic
Passengers (2017)	12,029[2] (Amtrak)
Services
Preceding station Amtrak Following station Fullerton toward Los Angeles Southwest Chief San Bernardino toward Chicago Preceding station Metrolink Following station Riverside–La Sierra toward Los Angeles Union Station 91/Perris Valley Line Riverside–Hunter Park/UCR toward Perris–South Jurupa Valley/Pedley toward Los Angeles Union Station Riverside Line Terminus Riverside–La Sierra toward Oceanside Inland Empire–Orange County Line San Bernardino Depot toward San Bernardino–Downtown
Location

History

The current station opened for Metrolink Riverside Line service on June 14, 1993.[3] The original Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway depot, closed on May 15, 1968, when the Grand Canyon was re-routed via Pasadena to replace the discontinued Chief.[4] Inland Empire–Orange County Line service began on October 2, 1995;[5] Riverside was the terminus of that line until the following year when the extension to San Bernardino opened.[6] Amtrak's Southwest Chief began stopping at Riverside in April 2002.[7] Metrolink's 91/Perris Valley Line (then the 91 Line), began operating on May 6, 2002.[8] Again, Riverside was the terminus until the Perris Valley Line extension opened in 2016.[9]

In December 2012, the station was renamed after Joseph Tavaglione, a local businessman and chair of the California Transportation Commission.[10][11][12][13]

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.[14]

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 or by using the Metrolink App for iOS or Android for all types and multiple tickets using a single mobile device for all passengers in a group. 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 website.

The Riverside Transit Agency provides free connecting transit service to Metrolink (but not Amtrak) passengers at the station including the agency's CommuterLink express bus system, providing connections to Temecula, Banning and Hemet. The SunLine transit 220 bus provides service to UCR, Moreno valley, Beaumont, Cabazon and Palm Desert.

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)
	■ 91 Line	toward Perris–South (Riverside–Hunter Park/UCR)
	■ Inland Empire–Orange County Line	toward Oceanside (Riverside–La Sierra)
	■ Inland Empire–Orange County Line	toward San Bernardino-Downtown (San Bernardino)

References

1. SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation.
2. "2017 California Report" (PDF). Amtrak. Retrieved 28 December 2017.
3. "Metrolink holds 2 open houses". The San Bernardino County Sun. June 13, 1993. p. 33. Retrieved August 5, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
4. Leppard, Henry (May 15, 1968). "Last Passenger Train out of City Leaves Tomorrow". Corona Daily Independent. Corona, California. p. 1.
5. Anderson, Lynn (October 3, 1995). "Metrolink opens Riverside-Irvine line". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 17. Retrieved July 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Anderson, Lynn (February 23, 1996). "Orange County rail line to make debut". The San Bernardino County Sun. p. 9. Retrieved July 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
7. http://www.greatamericanstations.com/Stations/RIV/Station_view
8. McKibben, Dave (May 7, 2002). "Riverside-L.A. Commute by Rail Cut to 90 Minutes". Los Angeles Times. p. 13. Retrieved August 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "TRANSPORTATION: Perris Valley Line rolls out right on schedule". The Press-Enterprise. June 6, 2016. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
10. http://issuu.com/rivchamber/docs/grb_2013_01/4
11. http://www.metrolinktrains.com/pdfs/MetrolinkMatters/MetrolinkMattersFebruary2013.pdf
12. http://rctc.org/onthemove/201212_onthemove.html
13. http://mobility21.com/forward-motion-dec-2012/
14. http://us.megabus.com/.aspx

External links

• Media related to Riverside-Downtown station at Wikimedia Commons
• Riverside, CA – Amtrak
• Riverside-Downtown at the Metrolink website
• Riverside Amtrak-Metrolink Station (USA Rail Guide -- TrainWeb)
• Riverside (RIV)--Great American Stations (Amtrak)