East Shore and Suburban Railway | |
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![]() A streetcar on Macdonald Avenue | |
Overview | |
Owner | Key System (1912–1933) |
Locale | East Bay |
Transit type | Streetcar |
Operation | |
Began operation | July 28, 1904 |
Ended operation | November 1948 |
Technical | |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
The East Shore and Suburban Railway (E&SR) was a formerly independent unit of the historic San Francisco Bay Area Key System which ran streetcar trains in Richmond, California, San Pablo, and El Cerrito. There were several lines with terminals at Point Richmond, North Richmond, the county line with Alameda County (a transfer point), what is now San Pablo, and Grand Canyon/East Richmond/Alvarado Park. Service to Oakland required a transfer to Oakland Traction Company trains at the County Line station and service to San Francisco required an additional transfer in Oakland. The systems were later consolidated into the Key System.
The system's initial line was built between Point Richmond and the Southern Pacific depot and opened on July 28, 1904. [1] The extension to the Alameda County line opened on April 29, 1905, [2] though the streetcar tracks did not directly cross the Southern Pacific main line. This forced riders to cross the tracks on foot and transfer to another car to make the complete trip. This setup would persist until April 1909 when an underpass was installed to take Macdonald Avenue under the tracks and connecting the two sections of the line. [3] The Stege branch opened in July 1905. [4] The East Shore and Suburban was merged into the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railways Company along with the Key System and Oakland Traction Company in 1912, consolidating most streetcar operations in the East Bay. [5]
Service was replaced by buses beginning on August 1, 1932, with the conversion of the East Richmond/23rd Street line to buses. Lines were converted to buses one at a time with the last remaining line being in November 1933. [6] [7] Fares were originally 5 cents and were raised to 7 cents ($1.65 in 2023) over time at the time of the last runs. [8]
AC Transit is an Oakland-based public transit agency serving the western portions of Alameda and Contra Costa counties in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. AC Transit also operates "Transbay" routes across San Francisco Bay to San Francisco and selected areas in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. AC Transit is constituted as a special district under California law. It is governed by seven elected members. It is not a part of or under the control of Alameda or Contra Costa counties or any local jurisdictions.
The Key System was a privately owned company that provided mass transit in the cities of Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Emeryville, Piedmont, San Leandro, Richmond, Albany, and El Cerrito in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from 1903 until 1960, when it was sold to a newly formed public agency, AC Transit. The Key System consisted of local streetcar and bus lines in the East Bay, and commuter rail and bus lines connecting the East Bay to San Francisco by a ferry pier on San Francisco Bay, later via the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. At its height during the 1940s, the Key System had over 66 miles (106 km) of track. The local streetcars were discontinued in 1948 and the commuter trains to San Francisco were discontinued in 1958. The Key System's territory is today served by BART and AC Transit bus service.
State Route 123 is a 7.39-mile (11.89 km) state highway in the U.S. state of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Named San Pablo Avenue for almost its entire length except for its northernmost 0.10 miles (0.16 km), SR 123 is a major north–south state highway along the flats of the urban East Bay. Route 123 runs between Interstate 580 in Oakland in the south and Interstate 80 at Cutting Boulevard in Richmond in the north. San Pablo Avenue itself, a portion of Historic US 40, continues well past the SR 123 designation south to Downtown Oakland and north to Crockett.
The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. With a population of roughly 2.8 million in 2024, it is the most populous subregion in the Bay Area, containing the second- and third-most populous Bay Area counties of Alameda and Contra Costa.
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Hayward station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Hayward, California, serving Downtown Hayward and the surrounding areas. It is served by the Orange and Green lines. The elevated station has two side platforms. A two-lane bus terminal is located on the northeast side of the station. A pedestrian tunnel under the Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision connects the fare lobby to a parking lot and a five-level parking garage.
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The Shipyard Railway was an electric commuter rail/interurban line that served workers at the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California, United States, during World War II. It was funded by the United States Maritime Commission and was built and operated by the Key System, which already operated similar lines in the East Bay. The line ran from a pair of stations on the Emeryville/Oakland border – where transfer could be made to other Key System lines – northwest through Emeryville, Berkeley, Albany, and Richmond to the shipyards. It operated partially on city streets and partially on a dedicated right-of-way paralleling the Southern Pacific Railroad mainline.
The East Bay Electric Lines were a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad that operated electric interurban-type trains in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Beginning in 1862, the SP and its predecessors operated local steam-drawn ferry-train passenger service in the East Bay on an expanding system of lines, but in 1902 the Key System started a competing system of electric lines and ferries. The SP then drew up plans to expand and electrify its system of lines and this new service began in 1911. The trains served the cities of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro transporting commuters to and from the large Oakland Pier and SP Alameda Pier. A fleet of ferry boats ran between these piers and the docks of the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero.
The Ohlone Greenway is a 4.5-mile (7.2 km) pedestrian and bicycle path in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. The path is named for the Native American Ohlone, who live in the area.
The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Railroad on what was previously Oakland Point. Beginning November 8, 1869, it served as the west coast terminus of the First transcontinental railroad. In the 1880s, Southern Pacific Railroad took over the CPRR, extending it and creating a new ferry terminal building with the official station name Oakland Pier. The entire structure became commonly and popularly called the Oakland Mole. Portions of the Wharf lasted until the 1960s. The site is now part of the facilities of the Port of Oakland, while passenger train service operates at the nearby Jack London Square/Dellums Station and another nearby station in Emeryville.
The station complex of Amtrak's Oakland Coliseum station and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART)'s Coliseum station is located in the East Oakland area of Oakland, California, United States. The two stations, located about 600 feet (180 m) apart, are connected to each other and to the Oakland Coliseum/Oakland Arena sports complex with an accessible pedestrian bridge. The BART station is served by the Orange, Green, and Blue lines; the Amtrak station is served by the Capitol Corridor service.
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The Oakland, San Leandro and Hayward Electric Railway (OSL&H) was an electric street railroad in the East Bay of California. It connected Hayward to Oakland along the 14th Street and Mission Boulevard. Tracks were laid with a narrow gauge using 35-pound rails, with operations beginning in May 1892. Transfers were made available to the Highland Park and Fruit Vale Railroad Company's cars, and to the cars of the Central Avenue streetcar line. Oakland's terminus was extended to First and Washington the following March. A new company was established to build the 23rd Avenue branch, which would be absorbed into the OSL&H in 1894. By 1907, the line had been converted to standard gauge except for one mile of tracks leading into downtown Hayward, which was similarly converted the following year.
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