Goleta station
Goleta, CA | ||||||||||||||||
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![]() Goleta station in January 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| General information | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | 25 South La Patera Lane Goleta, California United States | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 34°26′16″N 119°50′35″W / 34.4377°N 119.8431°W | |||||||||||||||
| Owned by | Amtrak | |||||||||||||||
| Line | UP Santa Barbara Subdivision[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Parking | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | |||||||||||||||
| Other information | ||||||||||||||||
| Status | Unstaffed, platform with shelters | |||||||||||||||
| Station code | Amtrak: GTA | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | September 20, 1998 | |||||||||||||||
| Passengers | ||||||||||||||||
| FY 2025 | 86,988[2] (Amtrak) | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Goleta station is a passenger rail station in the city of Goleta, California. It is served by the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner; it is the northern terminal for three of those round trips. Trains terminating in Goleta are stored on a storage track adjacent to the station.
Goleta station is served by 10 Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains (5 in each direction) evenly spaced throughout the day.[3] The station is convenient for the Santa Barbara Airport and the University of California, Santa Barbara.[4]
In fiscal year 2025, 86,988 passengers boarded or detrained at Goleta station.[2]
History
The original Goleta Depot, built in 1901, was moved to Lake Los Carneros County Park, half a mile northwest of the current location, in 1981. It is part of the South Coast Railroad Museum.
Opened with a concrete platform and open-air shelter in 1998,[5] the station gained a restroom facility in 2008 that was installed through the joint effort of the city, California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Amtrak and the Santa Barbara Council of Governments. The station also received bike racks and a new bus turning circle.[6]
In 2018, the station was awarded a $13 million TIRCP grant to upgrade the station.[7][8][9][10][11] In 2024, the city of Goleta started construction on a new full-service multi-modal train station next to the existing station.[12][4][13]
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) had announced plans for Metrolink service to/from Los Angeles Union Station to begin in Winter, 2026, starting with one daily trip in each direction, however the plans were scrapped in favor of an additional Pacific Surfliner train.[14][15][16]
References
- ^ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation. p. 15.
- ^ a b "Amtrak Fact Sheet, Fiscal year 2025: State of California" (PDF). Amtrak. January 2026. Retrieved January 29, 2026.
- ^ "Pacific Surfliner Timetable" (PDF). Pacific Surfliner. January 26, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
- ^ a b Palminteri, John (September 12, 2024). "New Goleta train depot expected to serve many needs from UCSB and the Santa Barbara airport to Buellton". KEYT News. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
- ^ "San Diegan Trains Now Stop in Goleta". Los Angeles Times. September 20, 1998. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "Goleta, CA (GTA)". Greatamericanstations.com. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program 2018 Awards" (PDF). Dot.ca.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 12, 2018. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "SBCAG Receives $22 Million in Rail & Transit Funding". Edhat.com. Retrieved October 28, 2018.
- ^ "Request to Discuss Goleta Amtrak Platform Needs at the SBCAG South Coast Subregional Planning Committee on April 5, 2017". Archived from the original on September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 13, 2018.
- ^ Buckley, Amelia (February 10, 2019). "Goleta Unfolds New Train Station Project". The Santa Barbara Independent. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
- ^ Orozco, Lance (August 6, 2020). "New Train Depot Project On South Coast Gets Key Approval". KCLU News. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
- ^ Says, Macpuzl (September 2, 2024). "Goleta on Track for a New Train Depot: Groundbreaking Set for September 12". edhat. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
- ^ Wernik, Amanda (June 13, 2025). "New Goleta train station crosses major construction milestone". KCBX. Retrieved October 11, 2025.
- ^ News-Press, Joshua Molina • Santa Barbara (January 13, 2026). "Santa Barbara Metrolink proposal scrapped; Pacific Surfliner to provide new train service instead". Santa Barbara News Press. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
- ^ Molina, Joshua (August 24, 2025). "Metrolink Train Service from Ventura County Stalled Until Next Year". Noozhawk.
- ^ "New Metrolink Commuter Train to Connect Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties Later this Year". edhat. January 17, 2025. Retrieved April 23, 2025.
External links
Media related to Goleta station at Wikimedia Commons

