List of San Diego Trolley stations

The San Diego Trolley is a light rail system operating in San Diego County, California. The trolley's operator, San Diego Trolley, Inc. (reporting mark SDTI), is a subsidiary of the San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS). The San Diego Trolley opened for service on July 26, 1981. It operates four primary lines (Blue, Orange, Green, and Copper) as well as a supplementary heritage streetcar downtown loop known as the Silver Line that operates on holidays.

The San Diego Trolley system as of September 2024

History

The current operating company of the San Diego Trolley system, San Diego Trolley Incorporated (SDTI), was not founded until 1980 when the Metropolitan Transit Development Board (now operating as San Diego's MTS) began to plan a light-rail service along the Main Line of the former San Diego and Arizona Eastern Railway (SD&AE Railway), which the MTDB purchased from the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1979. The Trolley began operations on July 19, 1981, with revenue service beginning on July 26, 1981. Trains at that time operated on a single line between Centre City or downtown San Diego and San Ysidro, with stops in some San Diego neighborhoods, and in the cities of National City and Chula Vista.

In March 1986, SDTI opened an extension east from Centre City San Diego to Euclid Avenue, along the La Mesa Branch of the former SD&AE Railway – this new second line of the Trolley was then called the East Line, while the original line opened in 1981 became the South Line. Service was extended along the East Line to Spring Street on May 12, 1989 serving Lemon Grove, and then to La Mesa and El Cajon on June 23, 1989. Service between El Cajon and Santee, which is not along the old SD&AE right-of-way, began on August 26, 1995.

The "Bayside" extension of the Trolley in San Diego, which operates near the waterfront, opened on June 30, 1990. The first phase of the extension to Old Town, from C Street to Little Italy in downtown San Diego, opened on July 2, 1992. The second phase of the Old Town extension, running from Little Italy to Old Town, opened on June 16, 1996.

The "Mission Valley West" SDTI extension, which opened a new Trolley route between Old Town and Mission San Diego (which included the Qualcomm Stadium stop) commenced service on November 23, 1997, just before San Diego's hosting of Super Bowl XXXII in early 1998. It was at this time that the former South and East Trolley Lines were renamed the Blue Line and Orange Line, respectively. The "Mission Valley East" extension between Mission San Diego and La Mesa opened for service on July 10, 2005, coinciding with the inauguration of the Green Line.

Stations along the Blue and Orange lines were renovated during 2010–15 as part of the Trolley Renewal Project.

Current system

The routes are arranged approximately geographically true; the Blue Line runs from the upper left corner (La Jolla) to the lower right corner (San Ysidro): the Orange Line runs from the left middle (downtown San Diego) to the upper right (El Cajon), and the Green Line also runs from the left middle (downtown San Diego) to the upper right (El Cajon), taking a route that lies largely along Mission Valley / Interstate 8. The Copper Line runs from El Cajon to Santee.

The San Diego Trolley system has 62 operational stations serving its four Trolley lines.

Fourteen of the Trolley system's stations operate as transfer stations, which allow passengers to transfer between lines. There is one universal transfer point (i.e. allowing for transfers among all four lines) in the system in downtown San Diego: the 12th & Imperial Transit Center station. The adjacent Santa Fe Depot/America Plaza/Courthouse stations, which are within walking distance of each other, also allow for transfer among the four lines. Six Trolley stations are end-of-line stations. Of the 63 stations, 37 of them are within the city limits of San Diego, serving various neighborhoods in San Diego; the other 16 stations are located in surrounding communities, such as El Cajon and National City.

Most stations in the San Diego Trolley system are 'at-grade' stations. There are ten aerial stations in the system and a single underground station (SDSU Transit Center).

About half of San Diego Trolley stations offer free park and ride lots. Most Trolley stations offer connections to MTS bus lines.

Renamed stations

In June 1990, the station on C Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, originally named Gaslamp station, was renamed Fifth Avenue station following a service expansion of the East Line (now the Orange Line) around the new downtown loop, which included a new Gaslamp Quarter station much closer to Gaslamp Quarter. Both Main & Marshall station was renamed to El Cajon Transit Center and Broadway Lemon Grove station was renamed to Lemon Grove Depot at the same time.

In March 2004, 12th & Market station was renamed Park & Market station following a reconstruction.

In July 2005, with the launch of the Green Line, Weld Boulevard station was renamed Gillespie Field station.

In September 2012, following a system-wide service reconfiguration, Bayfront/E Street station was renamed E Street station.

In June 2017, following Qualcomm’s expiration of naming rights to San Diego Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium station was renamed Stadium station. Following the demolition of San Diego Stadium throughout 2020 and 2021, the location is now the site of San Diego State University’s Snapdragon Stadium and Mission Valley campus.

In October 2017, following the sale of the Green Line’s naming rights to Sycuan Casino, El Cajon Transit Center was for a period of time named El Cajon–Sycuan.

In December 2023, following the adjacent Alvarado Hospital being sold by Prime Healthcare Services to UC San Diego Health and renamed, Alvarado Medical Center station was renamed Alvarado station.

In September 2024, in part due to the signage on Trolleys and signage on the Green Line being updated to reflect the recently opened Copper Line, Alvarado station was renamed again to UC San Diego Health East.

Closed stations

San Diego Square station

San Diego Square station, opened in July 1981 on C Street between Seventh & Eighth Avenues downtown, was closed on March 23, 1986, due to low ridership, its close proximity to the (then renamed, see above) Fifth Avenue station, and the desire to eliminate a station in order to accommodate the soon-to-open infill station at E Street (which opened in October 1986) without adding to travel times along the line.

Remnants of this old station still remain on C Street between Seventh & Eighth Avenues.

Columbia Street station

Columbia Street station, opened in July 1981 on C and Columbia Streets as Santa Fe Depot and renamed in June 1990, was closed in November 1991, with the track in the vicinity being reconfigured. It was replaced by America Plaza station one block to the west.

Lines

As of 2021, trolley service operates on three main lines offering daily service: the Blue, Green, and Orange Lines, and travels through the 62 stations and 65 total miles of mostly double-track rail. A fourth line, the heritage streetcar Silver Line, operates more limited weekday and weekend service, in a clockwise 'circle-loop' around downtown San Diego only.

Line	Opened	Length	Number of stations	Termini	Operation
Blue Line	1981	26.3 mi (42.3 km)	32	UTC Transit Center San Ysidro Transit Center	Daily
Green Line	2005	19.8 mi (31.9 km)	24	12th & Imperial Transit Center El Cajon Transit Center	Daily
Orange Line	1986	17.1 mi (27.5 km)	18	Courthouse station El Cajon Transit Center	Daily
Silver Line	2011	2.7 mi (4.3 km)	9	12th & Imperial Transit Center	On Select Holidays
Copper Line	2024	3.8 mi (6.1 km)	4	Santee station El Cajon Transit Center	Daily

Stations

The following table lists all stations currently served by the San Diego Trolley.

Table key
†	Terminal station

Station	Image	Line(s)	Location	Comments
8th Street		Blue Line	National City
12th & Imperial†		Blue Line  Green Line  Orange Line  Silver Line	San Diego, East Village	Universal transfer station for all lines: transfer for Blue, Green, Orange, and Silver lines. Serves Petco Park. Terminus for Green and Silver lines.
24th Street		Blue Line	National City
25th & Commercial		Orange Line	San Diego, Grant Hill
32nd & Commercial		Orange Line	San Diego, Stockton
47th Street		Orange Line	San Diego, Chollas View
70th Street		Green Line	La Mesa
Amaya Drive		Green Line  Orange Line	La Mesa	Transfer station for Green and Orange lines.
America Plaza†		Blue Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Downtown Core	Transfer station for Blue and Silver lines. Directly adjacent to Santa Fe Depot (i.e. short walking distance) – so is also an "indirect" transfer point for the Green Line. This was an infill station – added upon competition of the One America Plaza building in 1991. Terminus for some Blue Line trains.
Arnele Avenue†		Copper Line	El Cajon	Serves Parkway Plaza.
Balboa Avenue		Blue Line	Clairemont, San Diego
Barrio Logan		Blue Line	San Diego, Logan Heights	Serves Chicano Park.
Beyer Boulevard		Blue Line	San Diego, San Ysidro
City College		Blue Line  Orange Line  Silver Line	San Diego, East Village	Serves San Diego City College, San Diego High School.
Civic Center		Blue Line  Orange Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Downtown Core	Serves City Hall and Courthouse.
Clairemont Drive		Blue Line	San Diego, Clairemont	Serves Mission Bay.
Convention Center		Green Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Marina	Serves San Diego Convention Center.
County Center/Little Italy		Green Line  Blue Line	San Diego, Middletown	Serves San Diego County Administration Center.
Courthouse†		Orange Line	San Diego, Downtown Core	Serves the San Diego County Courthouse complex. Terminus for Orange Line.
E Street		Blue Line	Chula Vista	This was an infill station (it was added 5 years after the line's opening) – the first infill station on the current Blue Line.
El Cajon		Green Line  Orange Line  Copper Line	El Cajon	Terminus for Orange Line, Green Line, and Copper Line
Encanto/62nd Street		Orange Line	San Diego, Encanto
Euclid Avenue		Orange Line	San Diego, Emerald Hills
Executive Drive		Blue Line	University City, San Diego
Fashion Valley		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	Serves Fashion Valley Mall.
Fenton Parkway		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	This was an infill station (it was added almost 3 years after the line's opening) – the only infill station on the current Green Line.
Fifth Avenue		Blue Line  Orange Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Downtown Core	Serves downtown San Diego.
Gaslamp Quarter		Green Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Gaslamp Quarter	Serves Gaslamp Quarter; also Convention Center & Petco Park.
Gillespie Field		Copper Line	El Cajon	Serves Gillespie Field (airport).
Grantville		Green Line	San Diego, Grantville
Grossmont		Green Line  Orange Line	La Mesa	Serves Grossmont Center.
H Street		Blue Line	Chula Vista
Harborside		Blue Line	San Diego, Logan Heights
Hazard Center		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	Serves the Hazard Center Shopping Center.
Iris Avenue		Blue Line	San Diego, Otay Mesa West
La Mesa Blvd.		Orange Line	La Mesa
Lemon Grove Depot		Orange Line	Lemon Grove
Massachusetts Avenue		Orange Line	Lemon Grove
Middletown		Green Line  Blue Line	San Diego, Mission Hills
Mission San Diego		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	Serves Mission San Diego de Alcalá.
Mission Valley Center		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	Serves Mission Valley mall.
Morena/Linda Vista		Green Line	San Diego, Morena	Serves University of San Diego.
Nobel Drive		Blue Line	La Jolla Village, San Diego	Serves La Jolla Village Square and The Shops at La Jolla.
Old Town		Green Line  Blue Line	San Diego, Old Town	Serves Old Town Historic Park.
Pacific Fleet		Blue Line	San Diego, Logan Heights	Serves Naval Base San Diego.
Palm Avenue		Blue Line	San Diego, Palm City
Palomar Street		Blue Line	Chula Vista
Park & Market		Blue Line  Orange Line  Silver Line	San Diego, East Village
Rio Vista		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley
SDSU		Green Line	San Diego, College Area	Serves San Diego State University. Only underground station in the San Diego Trolley system.
San Ysidro†		Blue Line	San Diego, San Ysidro	Serves Mexico–United States border. Terminus for Blue Line. This was the original terminus for the original Trolley line.
Santa Fe Depot		Green Line  Blue Line	San Diego, East Village	Directly adjacent to America Plaza (i.e. short walking distance) – so is also an "indirect" transfer point for Blue and Silver lines. This was the original terminus for the original Trolley line.
Santee†		Copper Line	Santee	Terminus for Copper Line.
Seaport Village		Green Line  Silver Line	San Diego, Marina	Serves Seaport Village.
Spring Street		Orange Line	La Mesa
Stadium		Green Line	San Diego, Mission Valley	Serves Snapdragon Stadium.
Tecolote Road		Blue Line	San Diego, Morena	Serves SeaWorld.
UC San Diego Central Campus		Blue Line	La Jolla	Serves the University of California, San Diego.
UC San Diego Health East		Green Line	San Diego, College Area	Serves East Campus Medical Center at UC San Diego Health
UC San Diego Health La Jolla		Blue Line	La Jolla	Serves Jacobs Medical Center and Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla.
UTC†		Blue Line	University City, San Diego	Serves Westfield UTC and Costa Verde Shopping Center. Terminus for Blue Line.
VA Medical Center		Blue Line	La Jolla	Serves VA Medical Center (VAMC) of San Diego.
Washington Street		Green Line  Blue Line	San Diego, Mission Hills