VTA says a station is justified in Santa Clara because of the planned maintenance facility just south of the station. We don’t think this is the case.
VTA does not need a maintenance facility
BART has committed and received funding for an expansion of its existing maintenance facility in Hayward, increasing storage space for an additional 250 BART cars. The yard expansion was done with the San Jose extension, including Phase II in mind.
Instead of a full maintenance facility, a smaller storage yard can be built along the line to store trains overnight, such as the one located by Millbrae station.
VTA can build a maintenance or storage facility near the Berryessa station
A new BART maintenance shop or storage yard can be located at Las Plumas Avenue. The area is zoned for light industrial. Such facility could be completed and brought online long before the Phase II tunnel is completed.
VTA can build a maintenance or storage facility without a station
The planned station is located at the west/north end of the facility, which will require additional tracks beyond what would be needed for the maintenance facility. Also, without a passenger station, VTA would reduce its operating cost by only having to run trains to and from the yard on an as-needed basis, rather than running trains every 7-20 minutes regardless of passenger load. This will save millions of dollars every year that can be reinvested to improve bus, light rail, and Caltrain service.
In any scenario, a station in Santa Clara comes in at a great cost. It is not something that “they can just do it anyway” as redundant rail supporters want you to believe.