's
3rd and Townsend terminal was replaced in 1975 by the current station. The station is in the
Mission Bay/
China Basin area, bordered on the north by Townsend Street, east by 4th Street, and south by King Street. All 13 tracks approaching from the west presently terminate here, just short of 4th Street. The facility opened on June 21, 1975, replacing a station built in 1914 at
3rd and Townsend, one block away to the east. 4th & King is one block from
Oracle Park, the home
ballpark of the
San Francisco Giants of
Major League Baseball. Caltrain runs extra trains on game days to shuttle fans to and from the ballpark. The Muni light-rail extension to the station was opened in 1998.
Future The
Portal project (formerly the Downtown Rail Extension) to the rebuilt
Salesforce Transit Center includes the construction of an underground platform serving through tracks. The underground portion will be adjacent to the current station on the Townsend Street side, but Caltrain will continue using the surface platforms. Until that time,
California High-Speed Rail trains are planned to utilize the existing station with modifications for that service. Following the opening of the
Portal project, California High-Speed Rail service will be extended to the new Transbay Terminal, though most trains are intended to stop at the underground 4th and Townsend as an additional, secondary stop for San Francisco. == Muni service ==