On October 26 , 1903 , the Key System began electric commuter rail operation from Berkeley to the San Francisco ferries - a direct threat to the SP 's steam-hauled trains - on a line that paralleled the SP tracks on Shattuck . Around that time , Cal president Benjamin Ide Wheeler and other prominent Berkeley academics lobbied SP president E. H. Harriman for an improved train station to complement John Galen Howard 's emerging architectural style for the nearby University of California , Berkeley . Finally , the devastating 1906 earthquake and subsequent rebuilding " served as a powerful incentive to expedite the project "
1906 earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Downtown Berkeley station