The City of Goleta is marking a major milestone in the construction of its new train station.
In 2024, Goleta broke ground on a new, full-service train depot. The goal is to boost train ridership and ease traffic by linking transit to the Santa Barbara Airport and UC Santa Barbara.
This week, the city held a ceremony to celebrate a key step– placing the final steel beam for the building’s frame. That means a full skeleton of the building is done.
Once finished, the nearly 8,600-square-foot depot will include seating, Wi-Fi and real-time train information.
Jaime Valdez, a project manager for the Goleta Train Depot, said it will be a major upgrade from the current station– which is small and offers little more than a shaded platform.
“Functionally, there's a lot of people coming and going, so you want to have things that work for them– so you want to have electricity; you want to have bathrooms; you want to have a place to grab a snack,” Valdez said.
The project is close to halfway done. What’s left: adding a roof and walls, building patio areas, paving the parking lot and landscaping. Underground utilities, such as water, gas, electrical and communications, are currently in place and ready to connect to the building.
Goleta’s new train station is expected to open in summer 2026. It will be located at 27 S. La Patera Lane.
