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 Tri-Valley area is grouping of three valleys in the East Bay region of California's Bay Area. The three valleys are Amador Valley, San Ramon Valley, and Livermore Valley. The Tri-Valley encompasses the cities of Dublin, Livermore, Pleasanton and San Ramon, the town of Danville and the CDPs of Alamo, Blackhawk and Diablo. The area is known for its Mediterranean climate, wineries, and nature. It is primarily suburban in character. The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area centered in the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton, and Dublin with a 2020 population of 240,381, ranked 167th in the United States in terms of population. The total population of the area is estimated to be 361,000. It offers more affordable living accommodations than the cities of San Francisco and San Jose.
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 2023, the line had a ridership of 576,300, or about 2,500 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023. ACE uses Bombardier BiLevel Coaches, MPI F40PH-3C locomotives, and Siemens Charger locomotives.
California High-Speed Rail (CAHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system being developed in California by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. Phase 1, about 494 miles (795 km) long, is planned to run from San Francisco to Los Angeles and Anaheim via the Central Valley, and is partially funded and under construction. A proposed Phase 2 would extend the system north to Sacramento and south to San Diego, for a total of 776 miles (1,249 km). The project was authorized by a 2008 statewide ballot to connect the state's major urban areas and reduce intercity travel times. Phase 1 targets a travel time of 2 hours and 40 minutes from San Francisco to Los Angeles, compared to about nine hours on existing Amtrak service.
Commuter rail services in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica provide common carrier passenger transportation along railway tracks, with scheduled service on fixed routes on a non-reservation basis, primarily for short-distance (local) travel between a central business district and adjacent suburbs and regional travel between cities of a conurbation. It does not include rapid transit or light rail service.
Dublin/Pleasanton station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station on the border of Dublin and Pleasanton in California. It is the eastern terminus of the Blue Line. It is also a major bus terminal served by six providers.
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.
Globe 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 the median of Del Paso Boulevard at its intersection with Globe Avenue, after which the station is named, in the city of Sacramento, California.
The VTA light rail system serves San Jose and nearby cities in Santa Clara County, California. It is operated by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and has 42.2 miles (67.9 km) of network comprising three main lines on standard gauge tracks. Originally opened on December 11, 1987, the light rail system has gradually expanded since then, and currently has 60 stations in operation.
Wasco station is an Amtrak station on the San Joaquins line located in Wasco, California, United States. The station has one platform on the west side of a single track.
Madera station is an unstaffed train station near Madera, California, United States that is served by San Joaquins trains, which run between Oakland or Sacramento and Bakersfield, California.
Throughout the history of Bay Area Rapid Transit, there have been plans to extend service to other areas.
The construction of the California High-Speed Rail system is an undertaking by the California High-Speed Rail Authority. The project is expected to span about 800 miles (1,300 km) and will be completed in two phases:
Merced station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station in Merced, California, located in Downtown Merced. The originally proposed site was to have been located at ground level 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. An alternative location for a fully elevated station proposed by the City of Merced and other stakeholders, 8 blocks to the west-northwest along 15th Street, between O Street and R Street was approved after a supplemental environmental review. The high-speed rail line will run on the south side of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way.
The California High-Speed Rail system will be built in two major phases. Phase I, about 520 miles (840 km) long using high-speed rail through the Central Valley, will connect San Francisco to Los Angeles. In Phase 2, the route will be extended in the Central Valley north to Sacramento, and from east through the Inland Empire and then south to San Diego. The total system length will be about 800 miles (1,300 km) long. Phase 2 currently has no timeline for completion.
Valley Link is a proposed 26-mile-long (42 km) commuter rail service in Northern California, which seeks to connect the rapid transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco Bay Area with the northern San Joaquin Valley via the Tri-Valley region. Since 1997, BART's Blue Line's eastern terminus is at Dublin/Pleasanton station on the border of Dublin and Pleasanton. Valley Link seeks to extend rail service east from here into the northern San Joaquin Valley over Altamont Pass and to help alleviate traffic congestion and reducing greenhouse gas emissions on Interstate 580 (I-580). The project resulted from various failed proposals to extend the Blue Line east to Livermore.
North Lathrop station is a planned Altamont Corridor Express station in Lathrop, California – the second to be constructed in the city. It was expected to open to revenue service in 2023 as part of the first phase of ACE's expansion to Merced, but was later delayed to 2027.
Southfront Road is a proposed commuter rail train 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.
Isabel station is a proposed commuter rail train station in Livermore, California. It is expected to open in 2027 as a stop for Valley Link. The station's parking lot and bus bays are located on the north side of East Airway Boulevard while the platforms and rails are located in the median strip of Interstate 580 just east of Isabel Avenue.
In addition to the direct reduction in travel times the HSR project will produce, there are also economic and environmental impacts of the high-speed rail system. These were also specifically noted in Proposition 1A at the time the project sought authorization from the voters of the state in 2008. The anticipated benefits apply both generally to the state overall, as well as to the regions the train will pass through, and to the areas immediately around the train stations.
