The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile (270 km) passenger train route in Northern California operated by Amtrak between San Jose, in the Bay Area, and Auburn, in the Sacramento Valley. The route is named after the two points most trains operate between, San Jose and Sacramento. The route runs roughly parallel to I-880 and I-80. Some limited trips run between Oakland and San Jose. A single daily round trip runs between San Jose and Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Capitol Corridor trains started in 1991.
The San Joaquins is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. Six daily round trips run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, with onward service to Sacramento and Oakland.
The Altamont Corridor Express is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs. Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, and operations are contracted to Herzog Transit Services. The 86-mile (138 km) route includes ten stops, with travel time about 2 hours and 12 minutes end-to-end. In 2022, the line had a ridership of 389,100, or about 8,800 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2022. ACE uses Bombardier BiLevel Coaches, MPI F40PH-3C locomotives, and Siemens Charger locomotives.
The establishment of America's transcontinental rail lines securely linked California to the rest of the country, and the far-reaching transportation systems that grew out of them during the century that followed contributed to the state's social, political, and economic development. When California was admitted as a state to the United States in 1850, and for nearly two decades thereafter, it was in many ways isolated, an outpost on the Pacific, until the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869.
Sacramento Valley Station is an Amtrak railway station in the city of Sacramento, California, at 401 I Street on the corner of Fifth Street. It is the seventh busiest Amtrak station in the country, and the second busiest in the Western United States with thousands of riders a day and over a million passengers per year. Today, it is served by 38 daily Amtrak and Amtrak California trains and many Amtrak Thruway Motorcoaches. It is also the western terminus of the Sacramento RT Gold Line light rail system and the Route 30 bus serving Sacramento State University.
San Joaquin Street station, also known as Stockton – San Joaquin Street, is an Amtrak station in Stockton, California. Originally built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, it is a stop for trains on Amtrak's San Joaquin line between Oakland and Bakersfield. The Mission Revival style building cost $24,470 to construct, and includes typical design features such as stuccoed walls, a red tile roof and shady arcades.
City College station is an at-grade light rail station on the Blue Line of the Sacramento RT Light Rail system operated by the Sacramento Regional Transit District. The station is located in an exclusive right-of-way alongside the Union Pacific Railroad's Sacramento Subdivision and a small rail yard, on the campus of Sacramento City College, after which the station is named, in the city of Sacramento, California.
Pleasanton station is a train station in Pleasanton, California served by Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) trains. It is located northwest of downtown Pleasanton adjacent to the Alameda County Fairgrounds. The station has a single side platform on the single track of the Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision.
Livermore is a train station in downtown Livermore, California.
Tracy station is a commuter rail station in southern Tracy, California served by the Altamont Corridor Express. It is on the Union Pacific Railroad Oakland Subdivision, formerly the Western Pacific Railroad.
Robert J. Cabral Station, is a railway station in Stockton, California. In 2003, the station building was named in honor of the late Robert J. Cabral, a San Joaquin County supervisor instrumental in the creation of the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE), originally Altamont Commuter Express.
Merced station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station in Merced, California, located in Downtown Merced. The environmentally approved site is on Martin Luther King Jr. Way near the interchange with Route 99/59, placing it about 7 blocks south from the existing Merced Amtrak station. The station was initially intended to be the northern terminus of the system's Initial Construction Segment. As of April 2022 the California High-Speed Rail Authority is studying an alternative location proposed by the City of Merced and other stakeholders, 8 blocks to the west-northwest along 15th Street, between O Street and R Street. The high-speed rail line will run on the south side of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way at these locations.
Madera Station is a proposed train station to serve Madera, California. It would be located near the intersection of Avenue 12 and Santa Fe Drive.
The Northern California megaregion, distinct from Northern California, is an urbanized region of California consisting of many large cities including San Jose, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Oakland. There are varying definitions of the megaregion, but it is generally seen as encompassing the San Francisco Bay Area, the Sacramento area, northern San Joaquin Valley, and the Monterey Bay Area.
The Tri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority is a special-purpose district body formed for the sole purpose of providing a public transit connection, known as Valley Link, between broad-gauge Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) and standard-gauge Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) services, in Northern California.
Midtown Sacramento is a planned train station in the neighborhood of the same name that will be a stop on Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California's San Joaquin services. To be constructed as part of the Valley Rail project, it was expected to open no later than 2023. By 2023, the opening date had slipped to 2026. The platform will run between P Street and the wye at S Street and be bisected by Q Street. Sacramento RT Light Rail stations are located either three blocks to the east or west.
Southfront Road is a planned railway station in Livermore, California. It is a stop on the planned Valley Link system. Rush hour short turn Valley Link trains would operate from here to Dublin/Pleasanton. Service is expected to start as early as 2028.
Old North Sacramento is a planned train station that will be a stop on Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California's San Joaquin services. The station is located near the intersection of El Monte Avenue and Acoma Street. To be constructed as part of the Valley Rail project, it is expected to open by 2029. The Sacramento RT Light Rail Globe station is located nearby to the east.
The Sacramento Subdivision is a rail line owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in the U.S. state of California. The line begins in Marysville as a continuation of the Canyon Subdivision at a junction with the Valley Subdivision, and travels south through the Central Valley to a junction with the Fresno Subdivision in Stockton. South of Downtown Sacramento, the Sacramento RT Light Rail Blue Line runs adjacent to the right of way until a flyover near Consumnes River Boulevard. The route between Sacramento and Stockton hosts about 12 to 20 freight trains daily as of 2018. Additionally, the Amtrak Coast Starlight runs over the tracks between Marysville and Sacramento.
Natomas/Sacramento Airport is a planned train station that will be a stop on Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California's San Joaquin services. The station site is in the Natomas area, north of Sacramento, east of Blacktop Road and immediately south of West Elkhorn Boulevard. Planned as the northern terminus of the Valley Rail project, it was expected to open no later than 2023. By 2023, then opening date had slipped to 2026. A shuttle bus will provide connectivity for those traveling between the station and Sacramento International Airport, 8 miles (13 km) to the east.
