Ventura is a passenger rail station in downtown Ventura, California. The station is served by Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner from San Luis Obispo to San Diego. Ten Pacific Surfliner trains serve the station daily. Of the 73 California stations served by Amtrak, Ventura was the 33rd-busiest in FY2010, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 125 passengers daily. The single platform is located on the south side of the tracks with a view of the Santa Barbara Channel and the Channel Islands. The Ventura Freeway is parallel with and on the north side of tracks. The Metrolink Ventura County Line terminus is in Montalvo at the East Ventura Metrolink station since commuters traveling towards Los Angeles are better served by that station and overnight storage of trains in the downtown was impractical. Special service trains may come to this station such as service to the Ventura County Fair, in season.
The platform is located on a portion of Coast Line between the Ventura River and Ash Street that is under franchise from the City of Ventura. Having approved an official map in 1869, the town trustees approved the laying down of tracks on Front Street through the existing townsite. Approval was conditioned on Southern Pacific Branch Railway building and maintaining a depot within the corporate limits. The original train station was located about a half mile east within the Eastern Addition to the town. Ventura Junction where the Ventura and Ojai Valley Railroad Company branched off up along the Ventura River is just west of the station. The rails reached the town of Nordhoff in 1898 and the line was acquired by Southern Pacific Transportation Company in 1899. The Ventura River Parkway Trail has been constructed within the abandoned railroad right-of-way. E.P. and Orpha Foster donated much of the land for Seaside Park adjacent to the station. They envisioned this broad flat area as a beautiful gateway to Ventura, where families could walk, picnic, and enjoy family outings. The large parking lot across Harbor Boulevard from the station is the former site of Babe Ruth Field. The minor-league team games that played there from 1948 to 1955 were appreciated by the adjacent neighborhood called Tortilla Flats. This neighborhood was eliminated with the construction of the freeway. According to Public Art in Public Places, the 2008 mural "Tortilla Flats" by MB Hanrahan and Moses Mora at the Figueroa Street freeway underpass commemorates the neighborhood. A car carrier trailer leaving the fairgrounds with vintage Porsche automobiles "high-centered" as it crossed the tracks near the station and became stranded in 2004. Although the police notified Union Pacific, there was just enough time to get the driver out of the truck cab that was pulling the car-carrier before the collision. A northbound freight train hit the center of the trailer scattering the vintage cars alongside the tracks.
Coastal access
The station is on the Pacific Coast Bicycle Route and also serves as an access point for California Coastal Trail. Figueroa Street leads down to beachfront Promenade Park and Surfers' Point at Seaside Park. The promenade is a walking/bike trail that leads down coast to San Buenaventura State Beach after passing underneath the second oldest pier in California. Up coast the path leads to Emma Wood State Beach and has been designated the Omer RainsBike Trail. Beachwalkers will find sand and cobble beaches while walking to these state parks. While crossing the sand bar at the mouth of the Ventura River may be possible, the bike route is an alternate route for walkers. The rustic railroad bridge over the river has been an attractive and apparent short-cut but the curve in the middle of the river limits visibility for this illegal and dangerous river crossing.
