Qualcomm Stadium Station opened to serve the formerly known as Jack Murphy Stadium (the brother of Mets long time broadcaster Bob Murphy who always referred to the stadium with his brother's name) on November 23, 1997, just in time for a December 1 Charges football game and Super Bowl XXXII on January 25, 1998. It also was the home to San Diego Padres baseball until the end of the 2003 season (and served the 1998 World Series in the same stadium). The stop was originally served by the Blue Line until the Mission Valley Extension opened on July 8, 2005, when it was mostly replaced by the Green Line. Select Rush Hour Blue line service was extended and terminated at Qualcomm Stadium until September 3, 2006 before being fully discontinued. From 2006 through 2012 direct service from this station into downtown was only provided by the Special Event Line which ran during game days and other special events from here down to the 12 & Imperial Transit Center's Bayside Terminal. The Special Event Line was replaced by an extended Green Line, serving all stations of the Special Event Line in September 2012.
In June 2017, with the expiration of Qualcomm's naming rights, and the departure of the Chargers to Los Angeles, the station was renamed to simply Stadium to reflect the new name of the stadium as San Diego Stadium, before being closed on November 1, 2020 to accommodate the demolition of the former stadium into a new Transit Oriented Development, with the station scheduled to reopen in Fall 2022.
The station itself is on a concrete guideway on the southern side of the stadium, elevated above the parking lots that surround this 1960s multipurpose cookie-cutter stadium, an example of brutalist architecture. The San Diego Trolley claims there are 5,000 Park & Ride spaces for use on non-game days. This design extends to the train station which has just two tracks with the required three platform configuration for ADA complaint access for all trains terminating at the station. There are switches onto additional third tracks in the middle of the ROW at each end of the station allowing trains to be staged for post-game service in either direction. The stops platforms are the standard slightly raised height for level boarding with the S70s and the sides of the side platforms have bare concrete holding up platform canopies that are quite architecturally similar to the brutalist design of the nearby stadium. The fences are all red in with the overall red theme of the trolleys.
To access the station there is a bridge across the parking lot which begins at the stadium's Gate K and passes the statue of Jack Murphy and his dog Abe. It leads across and above the parking lot to sets of turnstiles, with compass card readers to activate them that can be put up during game days (there is a wheelchair gate and standard Compass Target). At this point we are directly beneath the actual platforms on its wide mezzanine area designed to handle game day crowds. Here staircases lead down to the parking lot below and two ramps lead up to the Old Town-bound side platforms along with staircases up to all 3 platforms (including the island). In a complex high capacity configuration. There is also an elevator from the Old Town-bound side platform to the mezzanine. There are a few TVMs scattered about down here but there are also red trailers that can be opened to handle post game return ticket sales (for those idiots who don't buy a day pass, the price of two one-way tickets).
All Photos taken on March 22, 2011
Fenton Parkway