California

State Details

See California; also see United States for information relating to the country as a whole, and the national operator Amtrak.

Maps

California is covered by the SPV "North America Railroad Atlas" volume California & Nevada and by the Sonrisa Publications California Railroad Map

Rail Operators

• AMTRAK - AMTRAK have an extensive network within California, including the following services
  • Interstate services
    • The California Zephyr - Runs from Chicago to Emeryville (San Francisco), entering the state west of Reno, Nevada. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA4.
    • The Southwest Chief - Runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, entering the state east of Needles, California. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA2, CA7 and CA8.
    • The Sunset Limited - Runs from New Orleans to Los Angeles entering the state at Yuma. Shares the California section with the Texas Eagle, which runs Chicago - San Antonio - Los Angeles. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA2.
    • The Coast Starlight - Runs Seattle, Portland, Sacramento and Los Angeles, entering the state south of Klamath Falls, Oregon. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA12 and CA14.
  • AMTRAK California.
    • The Pacific Surfliner - The Pacific Surfliner serves Southern California on a route between San Luis Obispo and San Diego via Los Angeles.
    • The San Joaquins - The San Joaquins operate between Bakersfield and Stockton, then to either Sacramento (calling at Stockton Downtown) or San Francisco (calling at Stockton San Joaquin Street). See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA13.
    • The Capitol Corridor - The Capitol Corridor route runs from San Jose to Sacramento via Oakland, Richmond, Martinez, Suisun City and David. One Capitol Corridor train per day continues east of Sacramento to Auburn.
• Altamont Corridor Express (also known as ACE, formerly Altamont Commuter Express) is a 86 mile commuter rail service connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only.
• Arrow is a rail service in San Bernardino County running for 9 miles between the San Bernardino Transit Center and the University of Redlands. It is operated under contract by Metrolink.
• Caltrain is a 77 mile commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at the Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as far as Gilroy. The northern terminus of the line is in San Francisco at 4th and King Street. Caltrain has electrified 51 miles of its route between 4th and King and Tamien.
• Coaster is a commuter rail service San Diego County operated by the North County Transit District (NCTD). Trains run 41 miles between San Diego Santa Fe depot and Oceanside Transit center. The service operates primarily during weekday peak periods, with limited midday, weekend, and holiday service. The same tracks are used by AMTRAK California services.
• Metrolink an eight line commuter rail system serving Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Ventura counties, as well as to Oceanside in San Diego County. There are 545.6 miles of track. This includes Arrow (see separate entry), which Metrolink operates under contract. System maps are here. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA6.
• Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a 45 mile railroad in Sonoma and Marin counties running between Sonoma County Airport and Larkspur.

Tourist Lines

{https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Heritage_railroads_in_California Heritage Railroads in California]

Metro and light rail systems

• Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) This is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It has six routes and 131 miles of track. A map of the system is here. Note that the system includes eBART, which is considered part of the Yellow line, but is a different gauge from the rest of the network and runs from an auxiliary island platform 0.6 miles east of Pittsburg/Bay Point station to Antioch. Also note that the Oakland Airport Connector, a 3-mile automated guideway transit line serving San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport runs on rubber tyres and may not meet some people's definition of a railroad. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA10 .
• The Los Angeles Metro Rail is an urban rail transit system serving Los Angeles County consisting of six lines: four light rail lines (the A, C, E and K lines) and two rapid transit lines (the B and D lines). A map of the system can be found here. Note that the D line is in the process of extension in three phases. More information here.
• https://www.sfmta.com/muni-transit The San Francisco Municipal Railway] also referred to as the SF Muni or Muni), is the primary public transit system of San Francisco
  • Muni Metro light rail system. Network map here
  • Muni operate three historic cable car lines. The Mason-Powell line, the California Street line, and the Powell- Hyde line.A map is here.
  • Muni operate two historic streetcar (tram) lines. E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves. The former is suspended until further notice (as at November 2024).
• SacRT light rail system. This light rail system serves the Sacramento area. The three lines cover 42.9 miles. A network map is here.
• San Diego Trolley network includes a light rail system and historic trolley (tram). A map of the system is here
  • The San Diego Trolley light rail system has four lines (Blue, Green, Orange, and Copper) covering 67.9 miles of track. See also Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services CA22.
  • The San Diego Silver line is a heritage streetcar (tram) line that operates on holidays. Map and dates of operation here.
• VTA light rail. The VTA light rail system serves San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County. It has 42.2 miles of network comprising three main lines. Maps may be found here.

Obscure or Sparse Passenger Services

See USA - Lines with Obscure or Sparse passenger services - California.