Balboa Park station

Balboa Park
BART trains at Balboa Park station in July 2023
General information
Location	401 Geneva Avenue San Francisco, California
Coordinates	37°43′18″N 122°26′51″W / 37.72167°N 122.44750°W / 37.72167; -122.44750
Owned by	Bay Area Rapid Transit District
Line(s)	BART M-Line
Platforms	1 island platform (BART) 2 side platforms (J & K) 1 side platform (M)
Tracks	2 (BART), 1 loop (J & K), 1 loop (M)
Connections	Muni: 8, 8BX, 28R, 29, 43, 49, 54, 88, 91 Owl, 714, J Bus, K Bus, K Owl, M Bus Commute.org Brisbane-Crocker Park BART Shuttle Daly City Bayshore Shuttle
Construction
Structure type	Street level (Muni Metro) Open-cut (BART)
Bicycle facilities	Racks, 12 lockers
Accessible	Yes
Architect	Ernest Born Corlett & Spackman
History
Opened	November 5, 1973 (1973-11-05) (BART)[1] April 23, 1979 (1979-04-23) (Muni)[2]
Passengers
2024	3,865 (weekday average)[3] (BART)
2008	2,760 daily boardings[4]: 34  (Muni Metro)
Services Preceding station Bay Area Rapid Transit Following station Daly City Terminus Blue Line Glen Park toward Dublin/​Pleasanton Green Line Glen Park toward Berryessa/​North San José Daly City toward Millbrae Red Line Glen Park toward Richmond Daly City toward San Francisco International Airport or Millbrae Yellow Line Glen Park toward Antioch via Pittsburg/​Bay Point Preceding station Muni Following station Terminus J Church San Jose and Ocean towards Embarcadero City College towards Embarcadero K Ingleside Terminus San Jose and Lakeview towards Embarcadero M Ocean View (at San Jose and Geneva)
Location

Balboa Park station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station and Muni Metro complex in the Mission Terrace neighborhood of San Francisco, California, located near the eponymous Balboa Park. It is an intermodal hub served by four BART routes, three Muni Metro lines, and a number of Muni bus routes. The station complex also includes two rail yards, Cameron Beach Yard and Green Light Rail Center, where Muni maintains Muni Metro trains and heritage streetcars. BART uses a below-grade island platform on the west side of the complex; Muni Metro routes use several smaller side platforms located on surface-level rail loops around the yards.

The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad opened in 1863, with Elkton station located near the modern site. Passenger service on the line (later the Southern Pacific Railroad Ocean View Branch) ran until about 1922. Electric streetcar service at Balboa Park began in 1892 with the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway, which built a still-standing office building designed by Reid & Reid there in 1901. The United Railroads conglomerate built its Elkton shops on an adjacent parcel in 1907. In the 1960s, BART decided to use the Ocean View Branch right-of-way for part of a rapid transit system. The San Francisco portion of BART, including Balboa Park station, opened on November 5, 1973.

Both streetcar facilities were replaced by modern yards in the 1970s and 1980s. Muni Metro service to the Balboa Park complex began with the K Ingleside line in 1979, followed by the M Ocean View line in 1980 and the J Church line in 1991. In the early 2000s, BART and Muni began planning renovations to improve the accessibility of the station and its connections to the surrounding neighborhoods. A new BART entrance was completed in 2011, followed by new Muni platforms in 2015 and 2017 and an additional footbridge in 2018. Additional improvements like more elevators and modernized headhouses are proposed. The 1901-built office building and an adjacent powerhouse, were abandoned after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. They were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010; a renovation of the powerhouse for community use was completed in 2020, while a renovation of the office building is planned but unfunded.