Local leaders are preparing to break ground on a long-awaited transit project that will connect North County to Petco Park, the Rady Shell and the rest of downtown San Diego like never before. The $33 million project will extend the Coaster commuter rail line from its existing terminus at Santa Fe D epot to San Diego’s waterfront convention center. Supporters call the project — which is fully funded and designed — the biggest boost to local transit since the Blue Line trolley line was extended north four years ago to University City and La Jolla. The project is expected to reduce road congestion by persuading more residents of Oceanside, Carlsbad and other North County cities to choose the Coaster over driving to downtown San Diego. The extension of the Coaster to the convention center will let riders avoid having to either walk nearly a mile, transfer to the trolley or take a car from Santa Fe Depot to the heart of downtown. The new Coaster convention center station will be just steps from Petco Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, the Rady Shell and other nearby attractions. “More convenient rail access gives people a real alternative to driving downtown,” said Michael Trimble, executive director of the Gaslamp Quarter Association. “That means a better visitor experience, less time in traffic, fewer parking headaches and more time enjoying the Gaslamp.” The San Diego Convention Center seen on Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025. (Meg McLaughlin / The San Diego Union-Tribune) By making the Coaster a more viable and popular option, the downtown extension is expected to boost ridership beyond the 871,000 it had in 2024. The extension project will also add a second rail track in part of downtown — making it easier for freight trains to travel through the area from the Port of San Diego to Los Angeles and other points north. Officials from the North County Transit District, which operates the Coaster, said Wednesday they plan to break ground on the convention center extension by the end of this year and have it operating by late 2027 or early 2028. NCTD officials said they had hoped to break ground this spring but had to delay that plan so they could analyze potential relocation of utilities between Harbor Drive and Tony Gwynn Drive. “It is unlikely that construction will start in spring of 2026, as these utility reviews are critical to the project,” said Shawn Donaghy, NCTD chief executive. “While we are hopeful that the project will be complete in 2027, it is more likely at this point that it will be late 2027 to early 2028.” Construction is expected to last about 18 months. A Coaster commuter train heads north through downtown San Diego after departing from Santa Fe Depot on Feb. 11, 2026. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) NCTD is partnering on the project with BNSF Railway, a freight operator taking the lead on project construction, along with the city, the Port of San Diego and San Diego Gas Electric. A key feature of the project will be an 850-foot platform extending from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue. New bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure will also be added along those two streets. The project will also include new signals at Kettner Boulevard, Market Street, Front Street, First Avenue and Fifth Avenue. The $33 million being spent on the project comes from a $106 million grant NCTD got in 2020 from the California Transportation Commission to enhance the San Diego-Los Angeles rail corridor. Since securing the funding, NCTD has completed design work, signed a memorandum of understanding with the city on cycling infrastructure and worked with SDGE on utilities infrastructure issues, said Mary Dover, NCTD’s chief of staff. A Coaster commuter train waits to depart from Santa Fe Depot on Feb. 11, 2026, in San Diego. (K.C. Alfred / The San Diego Union-Tribune) While NCTD officials say they expect to reach agreement on the utility relocations being analyzed, they said any delay in reaching agreement would delay groundbreaking on the extension. RideSD, a local transit advocacy group, hailed the project Wednesday for how dramatically it will boost access to downtown for North County residents. But the group added that the Coaster needs to run more frequently and for more of the day. “An extension that increases ridership should go hand-in-hand with improved hours and frequency, so the Coaster can provide North County residents with meaningful access to downtown’s vibrant bar food scene,” RideSD said in a prepared statement. “Downtown has so much to offer, but we regularly hear from North County residents how the early departure times prevent them from staying and having a good time.” Currently, the last northbound Coaster train leaves Santa Fe Depot at 8:40 p.m. on Sunday, 9:20 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:40 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. An extension to the Convention Center has been an ambition of NCTD since shortly after the Coaster began running in 1995. But formal efforts to make it happen didn’t begin until 2020. The Coaster now has eight stations along its 41-mile route. NCTD officials have also discussed adding stations at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and Camp Pendleton over the years, but no progress has been made on those. ...read more read less