Tasman is the last stop served by both of the two main VTA Light Rail Lines and has a single island platform located in the median of 1 Street. Just north of the station platform (but a bit before the actual intersection) the two tracks meet the route along Tasman at a full ground level T junction so trains can go in either direction. Trains originally only went west to Old Ironsides when the station opened as part of the original light rail segment on December 11, 1987. On May 17, 2001 the Baypoint station opened just a block away from this station (along with the extension from Old Ironsides west to Mountain View) and all trains stopping at Tasman on the core Guadalupe Line started running to Baypoint where all trains terminated and passengers were required to switch to a different train to Mountain View. Tasman finally became a transfer point between the two Tasman Branches on August 1, 2005 after a rerouting that sent trains from Mountain View to downtown San Jose and on a new extension to San Jose Diridon and later Winchester.
The platform itself has only one entrance from the middle of Tasman Drive that is accessed by a narrow concrete sidewalk with low chain fencing. The switches for the two branches aren't until just before the platform begins slightly down the block. The southern end of the platform doesn't have a legal entrance crossing. The one amenity for waiting passengers is a single dark blue canopy structure held up by two tiled columns that have Tasman written on brown tiles on them. Towards the southern end of the platform are two bus shelters that provide additional shelter.
All Photos: 28 February, 2012
Champion
