California Avenue station is a Caltrain station located in Palo Alto, California. It stops at the historical town center of Mayfield, which was annexed by the town of Palo Alto in 1925. The current station structure was built in 1983 and the station was expanded from one platform to two in 2008.

Quick Facts General information, Location ...

California Avenue
Shelter at California Avenue station in 2007
General information
Location	101 California Avenue Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Coordinates	37°25′44″N 122°08′29″W
Owned by	Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board
Line(s)	Peninsula Subdivision[1]
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	Dumbarton Express: DB1 VTA: 22, 89, Rapid 522
Construction
Parking	185 spaces; paid
Bicycle facilities	33 racks, lockers
Accessible	Yes
Other information
Fare zone	3
History
Opened	1869
Rebuilt	1955, 1983, 2008
Original company	Southern Pacific
Passengers
2018	1,693 per weekday[2]  3.7%
Services
Preceding station Caltrain Following station Palo Alto toward San Francisco Local (L1) San Antonio toward San Jose Diridon or Tamien Palo Alto (select trains stop at Stanford on game days) toward San Francisco Weekend Local (L2) Palo Alto toward San Francisco Limited (L3) San Antonio toward San Jose Diridon, Tamien or Gilroy      Limited (L4) does not stop here      Limited (L5) does not stop here      Baby Bullet (B7) does not stop here
Former Services Preceding station Southern Pacific Railroad Following station Palo Alto toward San Francisco Coast Line Mountain View toward Los Angeles Peninsula Commute Castro toward San Jose Peninsula Commute Mayfield Cutoff Los Altos toward Los Gatos
Location

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Rail service to Mayfield from San Francisco began in 1863; until January 1864 passengers had to transfer to a stagecoach to continue to San Jose.^[3] The first station was approximately half a mile northwest of the current site; it was relocated two years later after residents complained the location was inconvenient and William Paul, a storekeeper and benefactor of the town, donated land on what was then Lincoln Street. The station built in 1869 was replaced in 1955, and again in 1983 in conjunction with the development of the nearby Palo Alto Central condominium complex.^[4] After Palo Alto annexed Mayfield in 1925, Lincoln Street was renamed to California Avenue because Palo Alto already had a Lincoln Street;^[4]: 33 the station took that name in 1941.

Until 2008, the station had a central boarding platform and could only accommodate one train at a time, necessitating a hold-out rule. That year the station was reconfigured to have two outside platforms and a pedestrian underpass replaced the former at-grade crossing, eliminating the need for the hold-out rule.^[5][6][7] A fence between the tracks helps keep passengers off the tracks. A ticket vending machine is located at the entrance to the pedestrian underpass so that people can buy or validate their tickets before going to the northbound platform.^[5] New shelters for passengers needing assistance are located at the northern end of the platforms, next to the manual wheelchair lifts. The shelters have been modified to accommodate wheelchairs.