Amtrak California
Encyclopedia
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
rail routes within the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
State of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It also includes an extensive network of Thruway Motorcoach bus connections, operated by private companies under contract.
History
By 1976, the once expansive rail network throughout California (as in the rest of the United States) had declined to a point where rail travel in California was basic and infrequent. As a result, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak)Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
was founded in 1971 to take over America's passenger rail system. In order to relieve California's traffic congestion on state highways and to expand rail service above a basic level, California began to provide financial assistance to Amtrak. At the same time, Caltrans Division of Rail was formed to oversee state-financed rail operations and the brand Amtrak California started appearing on state-supported routes.
In 1990, California passed Propositions 108 and 116, providing $3 billion for transportation projects, with a large portion going to rail service. As a result, new locomotives and passenger cars were purchased by the state, existing inter-city routes expanded, and one new inter-city route, the Capitol Corridor, began operation. A more distinct image for Amtrak California, such as painting locomotives and passenger cars in "California Color", was established with the arrival of new rolling stock.
Rolling stock
Nearly all of the locomotives and passenger cars used in Amtrak California service are owned by the State through the California Department of TransportationCalifornia Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...
(Caltrans) and carry the 'CDTX' reporting mark
Reporting mark
A reporting mark is a two-, three-, or four-letter alphabetic code used to identify owners or lessees of rolling stock and other equipment used on the North American railroad network. The marks are stenciled on each piece of equipment, along with a one-to-six-digit number, which together uniquely...
.
The motive power for the Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin routes is provided primarily by 17 state-owned locomotives, of which 15 are EMD F59PHIs and two are GE P32-8WH
GE Dash 8-32BWH
The GE Dash 8-32BWH, also known as the P32-8WH or B32-8WH, is a modern diesel-electric passenger train locomotive used by Amtrak. It is based on GE's Dash 8 series of freight train locomotives....
s. The Pacific Surfliner route also uses EMD F59PHIs but they are Amtrak-owned instead of state-owned. Occasionally, locomotives from Amtrak's national system, such as GE P42s, can be spotted working on Amtrak California routes. The opposite has also occurred, with the Coast Starlight
Coast Starlight
The Coast Starlight is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States. It runs from King Street Station in Seattle, Washington, to Union Station in Los Angeles, California. The train's name was formed as a merging of two of Southern Pacific's train names, the Coast...
and California Zephyr
California Zephyr
The California Zephyr is a long passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the midwestern and western United States.It runs from Chicago, Illinois, in the east to Emeryville, California, in the west, passing through the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and California...
occasionally being hauled by a CDTX unit.
State-owned passenger cars, dubbed "California Cars", are used on these three routes. They are a variant of Amtrak's Superliner
Superliner (railcar)
The Superliner is a double decker passenger car used by Amtrak on long haul trains that do not use the Northeast Corridor. The initial cars were built by Pullman-Standard in the late 1970s and a second order was built in the mid 1990s by Bombardier Transportation...
bi-level passenger cars. A major difference between California Cars and Superliners is that California Cars have two sets of doors on each side instead of only one door on the Superliners, which speeds up boarding and alighting considerably.
Consists on the San Joaquin, Capitol Corridor, and Pacific Surfliner routes usually include between four and six cars, with one locomotive and a cab control car on the rear end. Occasionally, Superliner equipment (coach or diner) from Amtrak's national fleet is used on some consists for replacement or maintenance purposes.
In 2007, Amtrak California paid for the repair of two wreck-damaged Superliner Coaches owned by Amtrak in exchange for a six-year lease, intended to quickly add capacity on busy Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains. These have been repainted to a new paint scheme which is similar to the colors of the original California color paint, and has the current Amtrak logo on the middle left side of each car. One of the units is numbered AMTK 34981, a Superliner I Coach, and has been named "Pleasant Grove."
Livery
Amtrak California utilizes a liveryLivery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
and logo that is different from the standard Amtrak colors. All state-owned locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s, passenger cars and buses, with the exception of equipment used on the Pacific Surfliner
Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner is a Amtrak regional passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo....
route, are painted in the "California Colors" of blue and yellow. Each state-owned passenger car is named after a geographical feature of California.
The Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains are the two routes most identified with the Amtrak California image, since they extensively use "California Colored" equipment. The other state-supported rail route, the Pacific Surfliner
Pacific Surfliner
The Pacific Surfliner is a Amtrak regional passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo....
, uses a unique blue and silver paint scheme that is different from the other Amtrak California-branded trains.
Capitol CorridorCapitol CorridorThe Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Because it is fully supported by the state, the Capitol Corridor operates under Amtrak California. It runs from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 80...
(Weekdays: 518, 520, 521, 522, 523, 524, 525, 526, 527, 528, 529, 530, 531, 532, 533, 534, 535, 536, 537, 538, 539, 540, 541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 546, 547, 548, 549, 551, 553; Weekends: 720, 723, 724, 727, 728, 729, 732, 733, 734, 736, 737, 738, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 751) :
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
through the East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
to Oakland and Richmond
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
, then east through the Delta communities of Martinez and Suisun City
Suisun City, California
Suisun City is a city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 28,111 at the 2010 census. The city takes its name from the adjacent Suisun Bay, which in turn is named for the Suisunes, a Native American tribe of the area.-Geography:...
, and the Sacramento Valley
Sacramento Valley
The Sacramento Valley is the portion of the California Central Valley that lies to the north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses all or parts of ten counties.-Geography:...
cities of Davis
Davis, California
Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and Sacramento. One Capitol Corridor train per day continues east of Sacramento during the afternoon commute to the small Sierra Nevada town of Auburn
Auburn, California
Auburn is the county seat of Placer County, California. Its population at the 2010 census was 13,330. Auburn is known for its California Gold Rush history.Auburn is part of the Greater Sacramento area.- History :...
, returning in the morning. Plans have been proposed to extend an additional train per day to Reno, Nevada
Reno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
(a longtime major tourism and gaming destination for Northern Californians).
Pacific SurflinerPacific SurflinerThe Pacific Surfliner is a Amtrak regional passenger train route serving communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo....
(562, 563, 564, 565, 566, 567, 571, 572, 573, 577, 578, 579, 580, 582, 583, 587, 589, 590, 591, 592, 595, 597, 763, 768, 769, 774, 775, 784, 785, 796, 792, 798, 799):
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
. The entire length of the line runs from San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo, California
San Luis Obispo is a city in California, located roughly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles on the Central Coast. Founded in 1772 by Spanish Fr. Junipero Serra, San Luis Obispo is one of California’s oldest communities...
in the north, down to San Diego
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
in the south. It hugs the California coast for most of the route, providing a stunning backdrop. Most trains on the Pacific Surfliner route only travel a portion of the whole route. The Pacific Surfliner between Los Angeles and San Diego had previously operated as the San Diegan
San Diegan
The San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, and a "workhorse" of the railroad. Its 126-mile route ran from Los Angeles, California south to San Diego. It was assigned train Nos. 70–79 The San Diegan was one of the named passenger trains of the...
. The Pacific Surfliner now has one Weekday-Only Express Train. The Purpose of an Express Train is to decrease travel time. This Weekday Train, #563, Makes all Station Stops Except the following: San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, and Fullerton. It is run on the same schedule that Train #565 (Now a Weekend-Only Train) used to have; but is supposed to arrive into Los Angeles at least 20-30 Minutes Earlier. With 2.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2007, this is Amtrak's most heavily travelled service outside of the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
.
San Joaquin
(701, 702, 703, 704, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718):The San Joaquin operates twelve trains (six in each direction) each day between Bakersfield
Bakersfield, California
Bakersfield is a city near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley in Kern County, California. It is roughly equidistant between Fresno and Los Angeles, to the north and south respectively....
and Stockton
Stockton, California
Stockton, California, the seat of San Joaquin County, is the fourth-largest city in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. With a population of 291,707 at the 2010 census, Stockton ranks as this state's 13th largest city...
. From Stockton, four trains from Bakersfield continue west to Oakland
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, while two trains proceed north to the state capital of Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. Central Valley communities served include Fresno
Fresno, California
Fresno is a city in central California, United States, the county seat of Fresno County. As of the 2010 census, the city's population was 510,365, making it the fifth largest city in California, the largest inland city in California, and the 34th largest in the nation...
, Corcoran
Corcoran, California
Corcoran is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Corcoran is located south-southeast of Hanford, at an elevation of 207 feet . It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran, Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, Hanford
Hanford, California
Hanford is an important commercial and cultural center in the south central San Joaquin Valley and is the county seat of Kings County, California. It is the principal city of the Hanford-Corcoran, California Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Kings County, including the cities...
, Lodi
Lodi, California
Lodi is a city located in , in the northern portion of California's Central Valley. The population was 62,134 at the 2010 census. The California Department of Finance's population estimate as of January 1, 2011 is 62,473....
, Madera
Madera, California
Madera is a city in and the county seat of Madera County, California, United States. It is a principal city of the Madera–Chowchilla Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Madera County, and Metropolitan Fresno. It is located in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2010...
, Merced
Merced, California
Merced is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California in the San Joaquin Valley of Northern California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 78,958. Incorporated in 1889, Merced is a charter city that operates under a council-manager government...
, Modesto
Modesto, California
Modesto is a city in, and is the county seat of, Stanislaus County, California. With a population of approximately 201,165 at the 2010 census, Modesto ranks as the 18th largest city in the state of California....
, Turlock
Turlock, California
Turlock is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 Census, Turlock had a population of 80,549, up from 55,810 at the 2000 census, making it the second-largest city in Stanislaus County.-Geography:Turlock lies in the...
/Denair
Denair, California
Denair is a census-designated place in Stanislaus County, California, United States. The population was 4,404 at the 2010 census, up from 3,446 at the 2000 census...
and Wasco
Wasco, California
Wasco is a city in the San Joaquin Valley, in Kern County, California, United States. Wasco is located northwest of Bakersfield, at an elevation of 328 feet...
. Delta/Bay
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
communities of Antioch
Antioch, California
Antioch is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 102,372 at the U.S...
, Martinez
Martinez, California
Martinez is a city and the county seat of Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 35,824 at the 2010 census. The downtown is notable for its large number of preserved old buildings...
, and Richmond
Richmond, California
Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905. It is located in the East Bay, part of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is a residential inner suburb of San Francisco, as well as the site of heavy industry, which has been...
are also served by the San Joaquin. Los Angeles is not served because in order to get there, the train must use the Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass
Tehachapi Pass is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California in the United States. The route over the pass connects the San Joaquin Valley to the Mojave Desert...
line, where the Union Pacific prohibits passenger train use.
External links
- Amtrak California
- The Rail Passenger Association of California (RailPAC) is a statewide membership organization working for the expansion and improvement of rail passenger service within the states of California and Nevada.