Hercules Bayfront Was Planned Around A Train Station. Why Is It Still Waiting?

"The Hercules Hub scored lower primarily due to the timing of anticipated expenditures, not project merit." West Contra Costa transportation staff wrote that line in May 2026, in a WCCTC board report that ranked the Hercules train station project last of eight requests for regional transportation money.

The Capitol Corridor stop planned for Bayfront Boulevard isn't held up by opposition or by environmental review. It's held up by how grants get scored. Programs give points for spending money soon, and the Hub can't spend soon until someone pays for its design. If you're comparing Hercules with other West County and Solano options this fall, judge Bayfront by the commute it has right now.

Twenty Years In, The Easy Phases Are Done

On its Hub planning page, the City of Hercules says it has worked on the project for "almost two decades." Three phases are finished, and the project has full CEQA and NEPA environmental clearance. The project timeline lays out what's been built and what hasn't:

Look at what the finished phases have in common. They're trails and roads, and the city could build them on its own. Everything still ahead happens inside the Union Pacific right-of-way: moving utilities, realigning track, building a platform and a pedestrian overcrossing. That work costs far more. On the City's Hub project page, the contractor is still listed as "TBD."

The Loop The Hub Keeps Landing In

The City's own funding record shows the pattern. Hercules has won small grants that keep the project moving. In October 2023 it got a $2.4 million state TIRCP award, which wasn't expected to be released until October 2025, plus $800,000 from the West County subregional program. A $850,000 earmark from Congressman Garamendi's office followed in March 2024. By June 2025, $1.2 million in grant money was paying for initial design of the utility relocations, and the City said it was still looking for $12 million to finish designing the Hub.

The large federal applications haven't been funded. A Federal-State Partnership grant was "not received" in December 2023. In February 2026, the City applied for $21.7 million from the Federal Railroad Administration's National Railroad Partnership Program to pay for project development and final design, with a 20% local match. The FRA's selection list, updated August 14, 2026, picked 41 of 103 applications. The California projects on it are in Encinitas, the Cherry Avenue grade separation and the Eastbrook to Shell double track. Hercules isn't on it.

The regional round in May shows why. West Contra Costa Transportation Commission staff scored eight applications on five criteria, and the first was the "ability to spend STMP funds in the near term." Hercules asked for $3 million and scored 24 out of 40. Richmond's Barrett Avenue project ranked first with 37. Staff gave the board two options. Scenario B would have given the Hub $1.5 million. Scenario A put that money toward the I-80/San Pablo Dam Road interchange and gave the Hub nothing. According to the minutes in the June 26 packet, the board adopted Scenario A unanimously as Resolution 26-03. Hercules's own representative voted yes.

The reasoning holds up on its own terms. Money that can be spent this year delivers something this year. But a project that needs design money before it can spend money near term will keep scoring low on near-term spending. Staff called the Hub a strong candidate for the next round, expected about a year after the May vote, when a new 2027 program replaces the 2019 one. As this post goes up in early November, the latest dated update on the City's project page is still the February 2026 application.

The Neighborhood Was Drawn For A Train

The funding story matters for buyers because Bayfront's layout assumes the station will be there. The City's page for The Village says those blocks were planned at higher density to support the transit station and nearby shops. The Hub page describes up to 1,000 homes and 165,000 square feet of retail, commercial and hotel space within easy reach of train, bus and ferry.

Here's what has actually been built:

• The Exchange at Bayfront. 172 rental units, finished in 2020, with 14,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. The current tenant list includes Dream Bowlz, The Mat, HŌM Coffee and Cempasúchil, and one retail space is advertised for lease.
• The Grand at Bayfront. 231 units, finished in 2021.

The next phase is smaller and has a different shape. In September 2025, the City Council approved master developer Ledcor's plan for 171 row houses on the Village blocks, including some work-live and live-work townhomes. SF YIMBY reported that this replaced an earlier concept of 476 apartments. Other blocks are still waiting on applications. The City's Waterfront page lists a 207-key boutique hotel under review for Blocks E-G and a Builder's Remedy pre-application for 142 townhomes plus 36 affordable units on the blocks called "The Bowl." A separate proposal called Bayline would add 83 units, 82 of them affordable. The 171 approved row houses don't have a public builder, groundbreaking date or price list yet.

Taken together, Bayfront is turning into a townhome neighborhood a little at a time, and the station that justified its density hasn't moved past design.

What Bayfront Connects To This Fall

So the commute you'd be buying into is the bus. That service exists, and it's better than most people outside Hercules assume.

• WestCAT Lynx to San Francisco. Under the weekday schedule effective September 12, 2026, morning buses leave Hercules Transit Center for Salesforce Transit Center about every 20 minutes. The first leaves at 5:00 a.m., and most early trips take about 50 minutes.
• WestCAT J, JX and JPX to BART. These express routes run to El Cerrito del Norte BART. JX and JPX run weekdays. The J runs seven days a week, with weekday service from 4:30 a.m. until after midnight.
• WestCAT 30Z to Martinez. Martinez's station at 601 Marina Vista Avenue lists Route 30Z to Hercules Transit Center as a connection.
• Capitol Corridor today. The posted weekday timetable, effective December 8, 2025, shows 15 trains each way at both Richmond and Martinez. Richmond's station at 1700 Nevin Avenue connects with BART and WestCAT.

The City still describes ferry service only as a future phase. It hasn't announced a route or a date.

What September's Sales Say About Attached Homes

The station matters most for homes that depend on it. Bayfront's new supply is attached, and so is most of what's coming. In September 2026, Hercules closed 6 condo and townhome sales at a median of $577,500. They spent a median of 90 days on market, and the median was up 35.9% from September 2025. The same month, 7 single-family homes sold at a median of $850,000 after 21 days, with the median down 1.7% year over year.

Thirteen sales can't support big conclusions, and a 35.9% jump on six sales mostly shows which six homes happened to close. The days-on-market gap is the more useful number. In September, attached homes in Hercules took about four times as long to sell as detached ones. That's a pattern to watch, and it's the product type Bayfront is adding. If you're looking at a Bayfront townhome, use the commute it has today to judge the price. That keeps a train that may come later out of what you pay, and if the Hub does get funded, the benefit comes on top.

Quick Answers

Is there a date for the Hercules train station to open? No. The City lists utility relocation as the next phase, track and station construction as "upcoming," and the contractor as "TBD."

When could new funding come through? WCCTC staff expected the next regional round about a year after May 2026, under a new 2027 program, and named the Hub a strong candidate.

Can I get to San Francisco from Bayfront without a car today? Yes. WestCAT Lynx runs from Hercules Transit Center to Salesforce Transit Center, with weekday morning departures starting at 5:00 a.m.

If you're deciding whether a Bayfront townhome makes sense on today's bus commute rather than a future train, Carla Shaheed can help you compare it with attached homes in Vallejo, Fairfield and the rest of West County, using real commute times and recent sale prices. Work With Carla.