Union City station

File:Union City BART Station.jpg

The Western Pacific Railroad (WP) opened through Decoto in 1909. Passenger service began on August 22, 1910; both of the two daily round trips stopped at Decoto.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle/160369465/ |title=Make Preparations to Welcome Western Pacific |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=August 2, 1910 |page=4 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-call-and-post/160368853/ |title=First Train to be Royally Met |newspaper=The San Francisco Call and Post |date=August 19, 1910 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Asay/001/1910-08-22WP_Western4-Asay.pdf |title=Western Division Time Table No. 4 |date=August 22, 1910 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=1}} A local train timed for commuting to Oakland and San Francisco was added on October 1.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-call-and-post/160368836/ |title=Hayward to Welcome First Local Train |newspaper=The San Francisco Call and Post |date=September 2, 1910 |page=8 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Asay/001/1910-10-30WP_Western5-Asay.pdf |title=Western Division Time Table No. 5 |date=October 30, 1910 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=1}} The commuter train was discontinued in 1914, leaving just two daily round trips.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-enquirer/160369025/ |title=Fight Attempt to Remove Two Trains |newspaper=Oakland Enquirer |date=December 24, 1913 |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Asay/001/1914-11-08WP_Western14-Asay.pdf |title=Western Division Time Table No. 14 |date=November 8, 1914 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=2}} One of the two daily round trips ceased stopping at Decoto and other local stations in January 1919.{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Asay/001/1918-11-03WP_USRA-Western1-Asay.pdf |date=November 3, 1918 |title=Western Pacific Railroad Time Table 1 for the Western Division |publisher=United States Railroad Administration |page=2}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Asay/001/1919-01-05WP_USRA-Western2-Asay.pdf |date=January 5, 1919 |title=Western Pacific Railroad Time Table 2 for the Western Division |publisher=United States Railroad Administration |page=2}} The WP reduced service on the line to one daily train (the Scenic Limited) during the 1930s, but added the Exposition Flyer in 1939.{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/sp/maps/perryETT/1935-04-01WP_Western23-SheldonPerry.pdf |date=April 1, 1935 |title=Western Division Time Table No. 23 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=2}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/1Perry4/1939-06-11WP_Western25-SheldonPerry.pdf |date=June 11, 1939 |title=Western Division Time Table No. 25 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=2}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/160378193/ |title=Flier Brings Newspapermen |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=June 13, 1939 |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}} Decoto continued to be a flag stop served by the daily Feather River Express until around 1942.{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Perry/003/w/1941-02-02WP_Western27-Perry.pdf |date=February 2, 1941 |title=Western Division Time Table No. 27 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=2}}{{cite book |url=https://wx4.org/to/foam/maps/2-Perry/003/w/1942-07-05WP_Western28-Perry.pdf |date=July 5, 1942 |title=Western Division Time Table No. 28 |publisher=Western Pacific Railroad |page=2}}

BART built its Fremont line using the Western Pacific alignment (Oakland Subdivision), with a station south of the former WP station site. The BART Board approved the name "Union City" for the station in December 1965.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/144328970/ |title=Names Approved for 38 Rapid Transit Stations Around Bay |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=December 10, 1965 |page=10 |via=Newspapers.com}} Service at the station began on September 11, 1972.{{BART History}} Due to a national strike that year by elevator constructors, elevator construction on the early stations was delayed. Elevators at most of the initial stations, including Union City, were completed in the months following the opening.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune/143718399/ |title=Strike Delays Elevator Service at Some Stations |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=September 10, 1972 |page=36 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent/144134431/ |title=Four BART Lines Make The System |newspaper=The Independent |date=February 26, 1973 |page=30 |via=Newspapers.com}} The fare lobby features tile mosaics designed by Jean Varda and constructed by Alfonso Pardiñas.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.eichlernetwork.com/article/how-bart-got-art |title=How BART got ART |publisher=Eichler Network |first=Dave |last=Weinstein |magazine=CA-Modern |page=6}} The station was not originally served by buses.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner/145868788/ |first=H.W. |last=Kusserow |title=BART Banks First Fares |newspaper=The San Francisco Examiner |date=September 15, 1972 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} "The Flea" (now Union City Transit) began operating in Union City in 1974.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-argus/145873070/ |title=The Union City Flea flits about the town |newspaper=The Argus |date=October 17, 1974 |first1=Jane |last1=Abbott |first2=Karen |last2=Holzmeister |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com}} AC Transit service was expanded to Fremont in November 1974, and to Newark that December, with some routes serving Union City station.{{cite book |url=https://www.actransit.org/website/uploads/History-of-Lines-by-Line.pdf |pages=74–77 |title=History of Lines by Line: Major Changes Since 1960 |publisher=Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District) |date=July 17, 1978}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-argus/145874545/ |title=8,000 riders flock to use Fremont's bus system |newspaper=The Argus |date=November 20, 1974 |page=9 |via=Newspapers.com}} AC Transit began operating service between Union City station and Palo Alto station over the Dumbarton Bridge – later branded Dumbarton Express – on September 10, 1984.{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2010 |title=Authorize the Interim General Manager to Enter Into a Further Nine Month Extension of the Dumbarton Bridge Express Service Cooperative Agreement to June 30, 2011 |url=https://www.actransit.org/website/uploads/board_memos/c67e2a.pdf |publisher=Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District}}{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune/145923920/ |first=Steve |last=Taylor |title=Buses to cross bridge |newspaper=The Peninsula Times Tribune |date=September 5, 1984 |pages=B{{hyphen}}1, [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-peninsula-times-tribune/145923948/ B{{hyphen}}3] |via=Newspapers.com}}

As built, the station only had access from Union Way. In 2008, construction started on a reconfiguration of the parking lots, which included a new station roadway connecting to Decoto Road. The work was intended to improve access to the station, particularly from new development on the east side of the tracks.{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2008/news20080418 |title=Union City Station construction to relocate parking and bus stops |date=April 18, 2008 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}} A commuter rail platform for existing Capitol Corridor service and the proposed Dumbarton Rail Corridor was also proposed in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.unioncity.org/commdev/redev_intermodal.htm |title=Intermodal Station District |publisher=City of Union City, California |access-date=2008-06-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080827175042/http://www.unioncity.org/commdev/redev_intermodal.htm |archive-date=2008-08-27 }}{{cite journal |journal=Trains Magazine |title=BART builds solar-powered rail station |date=February 2008 |volume=68 |issue=2 |page=23 |issn=0041-0934 }}{{cite web |url=http://www.smcta.com/Assets/Dumbarton+Rail+Corridor/documentation/DRC_PSR_Summary.pdf |title=Summary of the Dumbarton Rail Corridor Project Study Report |date=May 2004 |access-date=18 March 2016 |publisher=San Mateo County Transit Authority |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160318141356/http://www.smcta.com/Assets/Dumbarton%2BRail%2BCorridor/documentation/DRC_PSR_Summary.pdf |archive-date=18 March 2016 |url-status=live |pages=3;18 }} (Later plans have called for the

Capitol Corridor to be rerouted over the Coast Line to the west, which would not permit a Union City stop).{{cite web |title=Capitol Corridor Intercity Passenger Rail Service Business Plan Update FY 2020–21 – 2021–22 |url=https://images.capitolcorridor.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/CCJPA-ABP-FY20-21_FINAL-DRAFT_May-2020.pdf |publisher=Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority |access-date=8 June 2020}} The parking lot and roadway work was completed in March 2012, with buses using new stops adjacent to the station entrance.{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2012/news20120305 |title=Union City Station intermodal area fully open |date=March 5, 2012 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}

The next round of changes to the station were made in anticipation of a future entrance on the east side of the station.{{cite web |url=https://www.alamedactc.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/2018-19-MF-Annual-Compliance-Report-Union-City.pdf |title=Annual Program Compliance Report: Reporting Fiscal Year 2018-2019 |publisher=City of Union City |date=July 30, 2020}} This would allow direct access from transit-oriented development (TOD) of former industrial sites east of the station. A expanded ground-level fare lobby with provisions for future pedestrian pass-through outside the paid area was completed in 2017.{{cite press release |url=https://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2017/news20170509 |title=Union City Station transit-oriented development project hits a milestone |date=May 9, 2017 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}} That year, the California Public Utilities Commission approved plans for an at-grade pedestrian crossing of the Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision in lieu of a more expensive grade-separated crossing. Construction work on Phase 2A, which added two new escalators to the east (northbound) BART platform, took place from 2019 to December 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/RR%20Committee%20agenda1220.pdf |title=BART Safety, Reliability, and Traffic Relief Program (Measure RR) Update |page=18 |date=December 20, 2019 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}{{cite web |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/committee%20packet1218.pdf |title=BART Safety, Reliability, and Traffic Relief Program (Measure RR) Update |pages=13–24 |date=December 18, 2020 |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}} {{As of|October 2023}}, construction on the pedestrian crossing is expected to be complete by 2025.{{cite web |url=https://www.unioncity.org/DocumentCenter/View/10982/Oct-2023-BPAC---At-Grade-Xing-and-I-St-Closure-FINAL |title=At-Grade Pedestrian Crossing at BART Station & Closure of "I" Street at 12th Street Presentation |publisher=City of Union City |date=October 18, 2023 |first=Farooq |last=Azim}} {{As of|2024}}, BART anticipates soliciting a developer between 2029 and 2033 for TOD to replace existing surface parking lots at the station.{{cite book |url=https://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/2024-03/2024%20BART%20TOD%20Work%20Plan%20Update_Public%20Draft.pdf |page=16 |date=March 2024 |title=BART Transit-Oriented Development Program Work Plan: 2024 Update |publisher=San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District}}

Some Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) services are planned to be expanded to Union City, with a new platform on the Oakland Subdivision adjacent to the BART station.{{cite web |url=https://www.unioncity.org/DocumentCenter/View/9434/Presentation-on-Union-City-ACE-BART-Station-Overview-June-2022_updated |title=Union City ACE/BART Rail-to-Rail Hub Station: Project Overview and Update |date=June 2022 |publisher=San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission}} Three daily ACE round-trips are proposed to serve the station by 2030: two Union City–Merced round trips and one Union City–Natomas round trip.{{cite report |last1=Krause |first1=Daniel |last2=Mangonon |first2=Anthony |title=Deliverable 3.1.3 (Initial Service and Operations Planning Analysis) |url=https://northvalleyraildotorg.files.wordpress.com/2023/08/nvprsp-final-initial-service-and-ops-planning-analysis-memo-20230828.pdf |website=Wordpress |publisher=AECOM |access-date=21 December 2023 |date=June 1, 2022}}{{cite news |title=Union City on track to become regional transit hub by 2030 |url=https://eastbayecho.com/2023/12/12/union-city-on-track-to-become-regional-transit-hub-by-2030/ |access-date=22 December 2023 |agency=East Bay Echo |date=December 12, 2023}}

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• [http://www.bart.gov/stations/ucty BART – Union City Station]

{{Bay Area Rapid Transit}}

Category:Bay Area Rapid Transit stations in Alameda County, California

Category:Stations on the Orange Line (BART)

Category:Stations on the Green Line (BART)

Category:Railway stations in the United States opened in 1972

Category:Bus stations in Alameda County, California

Category:1972 establishments in California

Category:Future Altamont Corridor Express stations