Caltrain Station – Stanford

Look, I understand that it’s only used six times a year. There’s no need to build a fancy waiting room or to add nice benches. But a Clipper Card reader would be nice, especially since Caltrain’s payment policies are already so confusing. Why should someone using Clipper be forced to get off at a different stop? Are the readers that difficult to maintain? They’re used and abused thousands of times a day on Muni buses; can’t 2,374 people use one six times a year in Palo Alto? What’s the worst that could happen?
So this would be a two-​star review, except that the signs for this station are horrible. If you’re walking from the stadium back to this station, don’t do what the signs tell you to do. If you’re heading south, you’re fine. But if you’re heading north, go under the underpass and turn left up that shady ramp as soon as you see it. Don’t pay attention to the sign that seems to imply that the northbound platform is a little bit farther up. If you do that, like we did, you’ll end up with a good view of the platform but with a chain-​link fence separating you and your destination. Then you’ll have to walk down and up again.
And if you’re drunk, please don’t cross the train tracks. Many people tried to do it, and if the police hadn’t been around, it could have gotten tragic.

This «station» is a special service stop for Stanford football home games only. The term «station» is to be used loosely because the train literally stops in the middle of the track and dumps you off onto the gravel.
No I’m not kidding… there are no structures, platforms, improvements, ticket machines, parking, bike racks, nothing… again, literally, the train stops at a point on the tracks closest to the stadium, opens its doors, and you take a 2 – 2.5 foot drop down ONTO THE GRAVEL, which then requires you to cross the tracks, depending on which direction you’re traveling. Yes, I had visions of another train mowing us down as we unwittingly deboard.
So watch your step… the gravel was golfball-​sized, so potential for ankle twisting is medium-​to-​high. And just to confirm… no, it’s not ADA-​compliant.
Why the 2^nd star? At least it’s convenient in terms of getting to the game. Otherwise, it would probably –4 stars.
Alternate station would be the Palo Alto station, which is just a little further north.