The station is located at 18770 Road 26, approximately north of the city limits of Madera, and immediately north of the boundary of Madera Acres. It is easily accessible from Highway 99 by taking the Cleveland Avenue interchange and then heading east as Cleveland Avenue quickly curves to the north and becomes Country Club Drive. Continue north on Country Club Drive, which eventually becomes Road 26, until the station is reached. The Madera Golf and Country Club is located just northwest of the station. The station has a payphone, Quik-Trak automated ticket kiosk, restrooms, and two shelters, but no indoor waiting area. An unattended 26 space parking lot is available at the station, but long-term parking is discouraged. Of the 78 California stations regularly served by Amtrak, Madera was the 51st-busiest in Fiscal Year 2013, boarding or detraining an average of approximately 75 passengers daily. The April 2016 revisions to California High-Speed Rail's business plan added a stop at the existing Madera station. The station is not intended to be a full-service passenger station, but a transfer point to Amtrak trains, as this will be the only Phase I station in the Central Valley where both services are co-located. The addition was partially the result of comments from the public review period. Several Madera County officials praised the addition of the high-speed rail stop.
For over a hundred years, the area was served by the former Storey Train Station, which was located about east-northeast of Madera in the community of Storey. That "station" consisted of not much more than a sign along the tracks indicating where the train would stop if it was flagged. When Amtrak took over nearly all passenger rail service in the United States in 1971, there was no longer any passenger service to the area. Amtrak resumed passenger rail served to Storey station with the San Joaquin on October 30, 1977. Although Amtrak substantially improved the conditions at the former Madera station, after about dozen years of service, official discussion began regarding improving the station. However, it took nearly a decade for any action. As the project plans developed over the next decade, the option of an entirely new station was selected over improvements to the existing one. In August 2010, ground was broken on this new station. The grand opening of the new Amtrak station took place on November 4, 2010, but regular service did not begin until the 8th. The $2 million station project, which included a new platform, shelter, lighting, access road and landscaping, involved the city of Madera, Amtrak, BNSF Railway and Caltrans. Funding came from Madera County’s “Measure T,” a ½ cent transportation improvement sales tax, the state of California and the California Transportation Commission. Over the next three years, the new station saw a nearly 25% increase in ridership and received additional improvements to the station, including solar panels. Since being replaced, nearly all evidence of the former Madera station has been entirely removed. When the new station opened, service by the San Joaquin had increased substantially from the once daily runs in each direction. By 2010 the San Joaquin ran twice daily between Sacramento and Bakersfield and four times daily between Oakland and Bakersfield.
Future
The 2016 California High-Speed RailBusiness Plan included yet another relocated Madera station in order to provide greater accessibility and connections between that system and San Joaquin services. Funding for that station was provided as part of the Valley Rail project in 2018. Work on station relocation is ongoing as of 2019, as the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority has entered into negotiations with CAHSR, Madera County, and the city of Madera. the new station at Avenue 12 is expected to open in 2023.
