Former stations In 1862, after buying a section of
Rancho Buri Buri from
José de la Cruz Sánchez,
Darius Ogden Mills deeded land to the under-construction
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad in exchange for a station to allow guests to visit his estate. The line opened in October 1863; the adobe
17 Mile House station opened in 1864 and was renamed
Millbrae the next year. The line was soon taken over by the
Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) for its
Peninsula Commute service. The station burned in 1890. In August 1980, the building was moved south to make room for a widening of Millbrae Avenue.
Modern station As part of the
BART SFO Extension, a new intermodal terminal for BART, Caltrain, and Samtrans was built in Millbrae just north of Millbrae Avenue. BART service to the $70 million facility began on June 22, 2003. The shuttle service was discontinued on February 9, 2004. The
Richmond line began serving Millbrae at weekday peak hours, with the Pittsburg/Bay Point line providing service at other times. BART service to stations in San Mateo County is funded by
SamTrans, rather than county tax revenues. As ridership stayed below expectations, SamTrans had to pay a larger-than-planned operating subsidy to BART. On September 12, 2005, in order to lower these subsidies, BART reduced service so that only the
Dublin/Pleasanton line served SFIA and Millbrae stations. SamTrans and BART reached an agreement in February 2007 in which SamTrans would transfer control and financial responsibility of the SFO/Millbrae extension to BART, in return for BART receiving additional fixed funding from SamTrans and other sources. On January 1, 2008, BART increased service to the San Mateo stations. Service to Millbrae station was provided by the Richmond line on weekdays, and the Dublin/Pleasanton line on weeknights and weekends. Direct service between SFIA and Millbrae was discontinued. On September 14, 2009, the Pittsburg/Bay Point line was extended to Millbrae on nights and weekends (with the Dublin/Pleasanton line cut back to
Daly City station), restoring direct service at those times. Millbrae station was expected to have some 16,500 daily BART boardings by 2017, but has consistently fallen well short of projections, with under 7,000 daily boardings by then. On February 11, 2019,
SFO–Millbrae line service resumed on weekdays and Sundays. The station continues to be served by the Richmond line on weekdays, with the Antioch line (formerly the Pittsburg/Bay Point line) serving both SFIA and Millbrae on weeknights and Saturdays. On February 10, 2020, the SFO–Millbrae line began running during all operating hours, with the Antioch line operating only to SFIA. SFO–Millbrae service ended on August 2, 2021; it was replaced by an extension of the Richmond line to SFIA weekdays and Saturdays, and an extension of the Antioch line to Millbrae evenings and Sundays. Richmond (Red Line) service began operating on Sundays effective February 14, 2022, with Antioch (Yellow Line) trains serving Millbrae only during evenings. On September 11, 2023, the Red Line began running between Millbrae and Richmond via SFO, with Millbrae serving as a terminal at all operating hours. On January 13, 2025, a shuttle train began operating between SFO and Millbrae between 9 pm and midnight due to the installation of
Communications Based Train Control equipment near Millbrae. It is signed as part of the Yellow Line. Caltrain no longer needed the historic station building after operations moved to the modern station. The Millbrae Historical Society negotiated with Caltrain to use the building as a museum in exchange for maintaining it. The Millbrae Train Museum opened in October 2004. The Society plans to acquire a locomotive and construct a section of track to run excursion service. The busway closed on May 18, 2020, with bus and shuttle stops relocated. The east surface entrance and elevator were temporarily closed from February 1 to June 6, 2022, with access to the garage maintained directly from the station concourse. The development was completed in 2023. It included 400 residential units, a 164-room hotel, and of office space.
Future Millbrae is planned to be a
California High-Speed Rail station. Senate Bill 1029, passed in 2012, provided funds to lengthen the Caltrain platforms for future high-speed rail trains. The station is to be expanded to accommodate the service. ==Transit connections==