Amtrak in San Francisco

[williamn]

Does anyone know why Amtrak services don't appear to run into central San Francisco?

 

[starrymarkb]

Its the wrong side of the Bay, There are bus connections into Emeryville station (and suburban passengers use the BART)

To Access central San Francisco would mean running down to San Jose and back up the other side of the bay (about 85miles) rather then getting a bus the 8 miles over the bay bridge

The Peninsular does have Commuter trains between San Francisco and San Jose

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&s...29&spn=0.785036,1.234589&t=h&z=10&lci=transit

 

[williamn]

Is there no railway bridge across the bay? And do you know if long distance services have never operated into central SF, or were they cut back in more recent times?

 

[starrymarkb]

There were two rail bridges. Electric commuter trains used to use the bay bridge - they were replaced by a new BART tunnel in the 1970s (BART is broad gauge and ATO so off limits to Amtrak) - There was also a railway bridge near Palo Alto that collapsed after a fire (though had already been out of use for some time)

 

[Shinkansenfan]

There were two rail bridges. Electric commuter trains used to use the bay bridge - they were replaced by a new BART tunnel in the 1970s (BART is broad gauge and ATO so off limits to Amtrak) - There was also a railway bridge near Palo Alto that collapsed after a fire (though had already been out of use for some time)

Up until Amtrak's formation, Southern Pacific did use to run trains into San Francisco.

Today, its as mentioned, motorcoach link only.

The bridge that caught ablaze was the Dumbarton Bridge, which connects Fremont to Redwood City, and is located south of the highway bridge with the same name. There are efforts to try and rebuild that bridge and restore at least commuter rail service to that route.

The California HSR effort is seeking to bring trains into San Francisco.

 

[Yank 119]

Geographically, it does not make sense for Amtrak to run into San Francisco, based on their current service around Northern California. The south end of the Capitol Corridor is San Jose, and Oakland is the current terminus for the California Zephyr and is the Western end of the San Joaquin line through the Central Valley from Bakersfield. The maintenance facility at Oakland caters to the Amtrak California fleet and serves as the turnaround point for the California Zephyr. It's been this way since the original Western Pacific trains terminated at the same place the California Zephyr does today.

A general rule for rail travel in San Francisco: If you arrive in Oakland by rail, it's easy to transfer to BART at Oakland to get across the bay. If you're coming from the south, the Cal Train service on the former Southern Pacific Peninsula Corridor is excellent. This line has undergone extensive rehabilitation in the last decade, and both express and stopping services are offered. There is a station that serves the SFO airport with both BART and Caltrain. The commuter services, coupled with BART rapid transit and the MUNI streetcar system make San Francisco a very interesting place to travel by rail.
There are plans to electrify the Peninsula Corridor and run high speed trains into SFO.
It will be interesting to see how it all evolves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caltrain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Corridor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Joaquin_%28Amtrak%29

 

[williamn]

Thanks for all the info. Is there an old large station in the centre of SF where long distance trains used to run into?

 

[starrymarkb]

I know the Caltrain station was moved from an older site, don't think anything is left of the old station.

Caltrains long term plans are to move to the Transbay Terminal via a new Tunnel. There are also plans for a second Transbay Tube, for both BART and Heavy Rail

 

[Yank 119]

Thanks for all the info. Is there an old large station in the centre of SF where long distance trains used to run into?

The current Caltrain terminal is located one block south of the original Southern Pacific structure. The long distance trains used that terminal. As for having an old station in the city centre, you'll draw a blank. The railways of San Francisco (primarily SP) never really went into the center of the city due to the hilly terrain. Most other rail access to the area was for freight, serving the wharves along the eastern waterfront. There were several carfloat operations. Most of the old line along the Embarcadero was later reclaimed for use by the F Market streetcar line. I'm not exactly sure when the last freight train ran along the waterfront, I believe it was the late 1980s.

There are plans to extend the Caltrain line and later HSR north in a tunnel to connect to the Transbay Terminal. It's interesting to note that the interurban cars of the SP and Sacramento Northern ran into this terminal until 1941 via the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. The Key System interurbans used the terminal until 1958. It never ceases to amaze me how shortsighted the country has been when it comes to rail.

Since we're talking about heavy rail, "proper" trains...the only bridge across the bay is the Dumbarton Bridge (which Caltrain wants to use), and the only terminal was SP's 4th & Townsend.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Transbay_Terminal