Caltrain is working on plans to revamp the 4th and King station and railyards with the City of San Francisco Planning Department and Prologis, the company that owns the land. The organizations are considering plans to modernize the station, and to build mixed use, transit oriented development using the twenty acre site, and relocate the train storage.  

When the current station opened in 1975, the building was intended to be temporary, and the area around the station was industrial. Since then, downtown San Francisco has grown up around it in SoMa and Mission Bay. 

4th and King historically been Caltrain’s busiest station. The project is considering improvements to the station to meet Caltrain’s future service goals, and to protect the infrastructure from earthquake and flooding due to sea level rise. The project will consider potential alternative railyard locations, including how this the relocation would affect Caltrain operations.

Through 2023 Caltrain and Prologis will work on a preliminary business case to analyze economic and social benefits and costs, and operational feasibility, looking at multiple alternatives for the site.   Mixed use development at the site could provide much needed housing, and provide connections among the neighborhoods of Central SoMA, Showplace Square and Mission Bay. Development at the site could potentially bring revenue to support the infrastructure.  

The current study picks up from earlier planning over the last two decades. Now that the Central Subway is opening, Caltrain electrification is slated for completion in 2024, and the region seeks funding to complete the Downtown Extension which will connect the tracks to the Salesforce transit center, the planning for the 4th and King site is resuming. To follow the progress of the study, you can subscribe to updates at the project website.