Santee Town Center was the original northern terminus of the Orange Line when this final extension opened on August 26, 1995. Service was replaced by the Green Line when it began running on July 8, 2005 because the line from here to Gillespie Field down the median Cuyamaca Street is entirely single tracked and can't support the 7.5 minute combined orange and green lines frequency. Only every other Orange Line train continued to Santee before the Green Line opened (those that did not terminated back at El Cajon Source: nycsubway.org.). The single track nature of this extension, also means that during special events like Comic-Con 2022 a separate shuttle trolley operated between Santee Town Center and Gillespie Field, where it connected to regular Green Line service that was temporarily terminating there.
The Light Rail platforms are the center piece of Santee Trolley Square, an outdoor shopping mall which was established in 2002. The design is such that the single track trolley line leaves the median of Cuyamaca Street and runs through the middle of the mall with shop buildings on each side of the line and the parking lot on the opposite sides of these buildings. The line becomes two tracks again for the two side platform terminus, surrounded by more shops, before the tracks end at a plaza surrounded by fast-food type restaurants. The platforms are super modern with boulders used heavily in the landscaping and one has two green canopies held up by pillars. When only high floor LRVs were used I don't know how the proper door was lined up for the right hand boarding requirements of wheelchairs.
All Photos taken on 22 March, 2011
Gillespie Field