VA Medical Center (San Diego Trolley Blue Line)

VA Medical Center is the one San Diego Trolley Mid-Coast Trolley extension located at street-level although the station is located along a narrow access road that isn’t designed for regular passenger use. When I visited in July 2022, a major construction project on the VA Medical Center campus - including the building of a new parking garage for the hospital - meant that it appeared that pedestrian access to the station was prohibited and any passengers trying to reach the veterans hospital, other than Administration Building 27 across the street from the trolley station had to transfer to a golf cart courtesy shuttle. On August 15, 2022 a pedestrian walkway through the construction zone to and from the main hospital building opened with golf-cart style shuttle service continuing.

The station itself consists of two side platforms for the two track line with a fence running in between them, and pedestrian grade-crossings at either end of the platforms. All access to the station is from the San Ysidro-bound platform, which is along a driveway (that has large no pedestrian signs as it leads down a steep hill down to the intersection of Gilman Drive, and Pepper Canyon Drive, the line staying at the same elevation resuming its elevated path). The station has the usual two brown shelters along each platform.

The station contains two additional touches as a solute to veterans. The platform wall of the UTC-bound platform looks like a homage to camouflage with brown and cream in 3 colors in larger tiles on the base, and a mixture of brown, and different colored greens and blues in smaller tiles towards the top of the wall. Dividing a portion of the San Ysidro-bound platform from the parking lot, by the main platform entrance is a low concrete barricade with 5 seals set beneath 5 flagpoles representing each of the 5 branches of the military. On the streetside of all of these seals is text for each branch of the military - Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and text that says “Serving All Those Who Serve.” On the opposite side by the very northern end of the platforms, is another concrete panel that says VA Medical Center Trolley Station on the streetside and an American Flag on a slightly higher flagpole across from the flags for the 5 military branches.
Photos 1-29: July 25, 2022

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Stepping off a San Ysidro-bound train by some Pronto Machines

A station name sign and information sign by the main platform entrance between flags of the 5 branches of the military

A VA Medical Center station sign and the military flags

S70 #5002 starts leaving VA Hospital for the Int'l Border

S70 #5002 and the back of a 3 car train of trolleys continues south

S70 #5002 and a train for the Int'l Border continues south

A sign for the station by the courtesy golf carts through the construction project that surrounds the station

One of the sources of the construction project, a new parking garage is being built

Looking down towards the only platform entrance between the flags

The station although it feels like its at grade, still has a concrete trackbed like the rest of the elevated stations, it's built into the side of a hill, high on a berm with an off-ramp of I-5 below

The single glass elevator structure that contains two elevators for platform access (San Diego: Great redundancy)

Pronto Machines on the San Ysidro-bound platform

Looking down the San Ysidro-bound track at the pedestrian grade-crossing

The look both ways before crossing signs at one of the pedestrian grade-crossings

Starting down the UTC-bound platform

Looking across to a shelter on the San Ysidro-bound platform

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