Diridon Station, San Jose, CA

Of Interest: downtown San Jose, historic San Jose, HP Pavilion

Lodging: yes

Tourist Office: no

Safe at Night: so-so. Lots of people get on and off here, so you won't be alone. However, the surrounding parking lot creates lots of deserted space to walk through, and I wouldn't describe San Jose as a low crime area.

There is a good map of the area on the Transit Unlimited Wiki. Map of Diridon Station

The station is close to two hotels, both locally owned. The Arena (to the west) is a locally owned budget hotel while the Hotel de Anza is more upscale and dates from 1931. Both are on the same road, although this road is called The Alameda to the west and Santa Clara Street to the east. There are also hotels to the southeast of the station.

Santa Clara Street will take you into the heart of San Jose which itself is the heart of Santa Clara County. The current downtown is to the south of the street while the area where San Jose started is to the north. The downtown is made up of office buildings and public spaces. There is a farmer's market every Friday from May to December. Its route starts at Santa Clara and connects the modern business centers with the old San Jose.

The VTA, San Jose's light rail system, runs through downtown. There is also a light rail station near Diridon Station. The system connects most of the area, including Silicon Valley. Local planners think that there would be more riders if the trains went a little faster, but I the distances in a car-oriented environment are more of problem. One of the busiest stops was within easy walking distance of a supermarket near stops that serve residential neighborhoods.

Diridon Station itself is a major rail hub. Amtrak, Caltrain, and ACE all serve this station.

Amtrak's Capitol Corridor starts here seven times a day. It takes one hour to get to Oakland and three hours to get to the terminus at Sacramento. The Coast Starlight runs through here in each direction once a day. This line starts in Los Angeles, 10 hours away and runs right along the coast before arriving in San Jose. From San Jose it follows the route of the Capitol Corridor to Sacramento before heading on to Portland (20 hours) and Seattle (24 hours).

Caltrain goes north from San Jose to San Francisco which is two hours away. Caltrain connects with the BART if you need to get to the airport. One train in the morning comes into San Jose from Gilroy (forty-five minutes away) and one train goes back in the evening. If you need to get to Gilroy at other times, you can there are buses. Trains are frequent during rush hour, hourly at other times.

The Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) runs a two hour commuter route to Stockton. Three trains come into San Jose in the morning and three trains go back out in the evening on workdays.

San Jose Station was named the Diridon Station in 1994 in honor of former Santa Clara County Supervisor Rod Diridon, a long-time California rail supporter.