Gillespie Field station

Gillespie Field
Gillespie Field station, March 2010
General information
Location	1990 1⁄2 North Cuyamaca Street Santee, California United States
Coordinates	32°49′38″N 116°58′56″W / 32.8271°N 116.9821°W / 32.8271; -116.9821
Owned by	San Diego Metropolitan Transit System
Operated by	San Diego Trolley
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Construction
Structure type	At-grade
Parking	175 spaces[1]
Bicycle facilities	8 rack spaces, 2 lockers[2]
Accessible
Other information
Station code	75022, 75023[3]
History
Opened	July 26, 1995 (1995-07-26)[4]
Rebuilt	2005
Previous names	Weld Boulevard (1995–2005)
Services
Preceding station San Diego Trolley Following station Arnele Avenue towards El Cajon Copper Line Santee Terminus
Former services Preceding station San Diego Trolley Following station Arnele Avenue towards 12th & Imperial Green Line 2012-2024 Santee Terminus Arnele Avenue towards Old Town Green Line 2005-2012 Arnele Avenue towards 12th & Imperial Orange Line 2005-2012 Terminus Orange Line 1995-2005 Santee Terminus
Location

Gillespie Field station (formerly Weld Boulevard station) is a Copper Line station of the San Diego Trolley in the San Diego suburb of Santee, California. It is located across Marshall Avenue from Gillespie Field, a county airport, however there is no public access to the airport and the surrounding area is sparse and largely unwalkable. The station has no bus connections, therefore most passengers who use the station also use the 175 space park and ride lot.

Gillespie opened as part of the fourth and final segment of the East Line (now Orange Line) on July 26, 1995, which extended the physical line from El Cajon to Santee. With the opening of the Green Line in July 2005,^[5] this service was replaced, and Orange Line trolleys began to terminate at this station. This was due to the route between Gillespie Field and Santee Town Center being single tracked, and having two lines running on that route would cause operational issues.^[6]

Orange Line service was further truncated to El Cajon on September 2, 2012, as part of a system redesign due to low ridership between the two stations, leaving only the Green Line serving this station.^[7]

Gillespie Field station was ranked worst rail station in California in a 2015 UC Berkeley School of Law study, due to its sparse, unwalkable location and lack of ridership.^[8] Study co-author Elkind was quoted in the press, “I almost wondered if there was really a station out there or if we got the GPS wrong. It looked like cow pastures.”^[9]

To further reduce operational issues on the single track between Gillespie Field and Santee, the Copper Line began service on September 29, 2024, and the Green Line was also truncated back to El Cajon.^[10]

• List of San Diego Trolley stations