Capitol Corridor

"Amtrak Capitols" redirects here. For the Amtrak line connecting Washington, D.C. and Chicago, see Capitol Limited (Amtrak train).

Capitol Corridor
A morning San Jose-bound Capitol Corridor at Santa Clara-University station
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	California
First service	December 12, 1991
Current operator(s)	Amtrak, in partnership with Caltrans
Average ridership	4,681 daily 1,708,618 total (FY11)
Route
Start	Auburn, California
No. of intermediate stops	15
End	San Jose, California
Distance travelled	168 miles (270 km)
Average journey time	3 hours 15 minutes
Train number(s)	Weekdays Eastbound: 520, 522, 524, 526, 528, 530, 532, 534, 536, 538, 540, 542, 544, 546, 548 Westbound: 521, 523, 525, 527, 529, 531, 533, 535, 537, 541, 543, 545, 547, 549, 551 Weekends Eastbound: 720, 724, 728, 732, 734, 736, 738, 742, 744, 746, 748 Westbound: 723, 727, 729, 733, 737, 741, 743, 745, 747, 749, 751
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Track owner(s)	UP and JPBX
Route map California Zephyr 0 mi  0 km Auburn 14 mi  23 km Rocklin 18 mi  29 km Roseville Placer County Sacramento County American River San Joaquin Coast Starlight 35 mi  56 km SacramentoRT light rail Sacramento County Yolo County Sacramento River 49 mi  79 km Davis Yolo County Solano County Fairfield-Vacaville planned 75 mi  121 km Suisun-Fairfield Solano County Contra Costa County Carquinez Strait San Joaquin 93 mi  150 km Martinez Hercules planned 112 mi  180 km Richmond Contra Costa County Alameda County 118 mi  190 km Berkeley 120 mi  193 km Emeryville 125 mi  201 km Oakland-Jack London Sq. 130 mi  209 km Oakland Coliseum 138 mi  222 km Hayward Union City planned Alameda Creek 150 mi  241 km Fremont-Centerville Alameda County Santa Clara County Coyote Creek 161 mi  259 km Santa Clara-Great America Lick Mill (VTA) 165 mi  266 km Santa Clara-Univ. 168 mi  270 km San Jose Coast Starlight

The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile (275 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Because it is fully supported by the state, the Capitol Corridor operates under the Amtrak California brand. It runs from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 80. One train a day continues through the eastern Sacramento suburbs to Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The trains are administered by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority and managed by employees of Bay Area Rapid Transit. Capitol Corridor trains started in 1991.

History

See also: History of California to 1899#Statehood: 1849-1850

The Capitol Corridor links California's first state capital and thus where the state capitol was located, San Jose (1850), with the current state capital, Sacramento. The rail route also travels near historical state capitals of Vallejo (1852) and Benicia (1853).

At the start of the 1990s three Amtrak services operated in the Bay Area: the long-distance California Zephyr (Oakland–Chicago) and Coast Starlight (Los Angeles–Seattle), and the short-distance San Joaquin (Bakersfield-Oakland). Of these, only the Coast Starlight operated between San Jose and Sacramento, and at inconvenient times. The last local service between the two former capitals was the Southern Pacific's Senator which ran between Oakland and Sacramento until May 31, 1962. In 1990 California voters passed two propositions providing $105 million to expand service along the route. The new service, named Capitols, debuted on December 12, 1991 with three daily round-trips between San Jose and Sacramento. Of these, a single round-trip continued to Roseville, an eastern Sacramento suburb. The service was later renamed Capitol Corridor to avoid confusion with the Capitol Limited, which runs between Washington, D.C. and Chicago.

Proposed expansion

New stations have been proposed along the existing route at Hercules, Benicia, Northern Fairfield/Vacaville, and Dixon. The Northern Fairfield/Vacaville station is being jointly developed by the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville near the corner of Peabody Road and Vanden Road. Additionally an intermodal station is planned at the Union City station, connecting to BART as part of a larger Dumbarton Rail Corridor Project to connect Union City, Fremont, and Newark to various Peninsula destinations via the Dumbarton rail bridge. The station is being planned and paid for by BART and the city of Union City. An expansion to Reno, Nevada on the existing UP line over Donner Pass has been considered. This would add a stop in Truckee, which is already served by the California Zephyr. Extending service southward to Salinas has been discussed, which would add stops at Castroville, Watsonville Junction (Pajaro) & Gilroy (already served by Caltrain).

Frequency and ridership

During fiscal year 2011 the Capitol Corridor service carried over 1.7 million passengers, an 8.1% increase over FY2010. Revenue in FY2011 was $25,720,252, a 12.5% increase over FY2010. It is the fourth busiest Amtrak route by ridership, surpassed only by the Northeast Regional, Acela Express, and Pacific Surfliner.

The Capitol Corridor is used by commuters between the Sacramento area and the Bay Area as an alternative to driving on congested Interstate 80. Monthly passes and discounted trip tickets are available. Many politicians, lobbyists, and aides live in the Bay Area and commute to their jobs in Sacramento, while workers in the Oakland, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley employment centers take the Capitol Corridor trains from their less expensive homes in Solano County and the Sacramento metropolitan area.

Starting on August 28, 2006 the Capitol Corridor had 16 weekday trains each way between Oakland and Sacramento, up from twelve in 2005 and three in 1992. (Seven of the sixteen ran to/from San Jose.) According to its management, ridership on the Capitol Corridor trains tripled between 1998 and 2005.

Starting August 13, 2012 the Capitol Corridor dropped from 16 to 15 weekday trains each way between Oakland and Sacramento. The Joint Powers Authority went ahead with a plan to drop train numbers 518 and 553 due to high fuel costs, low ridership, and a new ability to store an extra train overnight in a Sacramento railyard.

As of February 2013 no weekday trains run the full length of the line between Auburn and San Jose. The single departure from Auburn runs to Oakland Coliseum; of the 14 westward departures from Sacramento seven run to San Jose, three to Coliseum and four to downtown Oakland. Seven trains run San Jose to Sacramento, six downtown Oakland to Sacramento, one Coliseum to Sacramento and one Oakland to Auburn.

Thruway Motorcoach services

Additional cities and regions can be reached with Amtrak California Thruway Motorcoach service:

• Transfer at Sacramento
  • Redding, Red Bluff, Corning, Chico, Oroville, Marysville
  • Nevada City, Grass Valley
  • Reno, Nevada, Truckee, Colfax
  • Carson City, Nevada, South Lake Tahoe, Placerville, Cameron Park, Rancho Cordova
• Transfer at Martinez
  • Eureka, Arcata, Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Vallejo
  • Napa
• Transfer at San Jose
  • Santa Cruz, Monterey
  • Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Salinas, Gilroy, Morgan Hill

Sacramento is the busiest station on the route, and the 7th busiest in the nation.

Governance

As an Amtrak California route, Capitol Corridor is fully funded by the state through Caltrans Division of Rail. Caltrans managed the line from its inception in 1991 to 1997, but in 1998 the administration of the route was transferred to Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), formed by transit agencies of which the Capitol Corridor serves in order to have more local control, while still funded by Caltrans. CCJPA in turn contracted with BART for day-to-day management and staff support; also, CCJPA makes decisions on the service level of Capitol Corridor, capital improvements along the route, and passenger amenities aboard the trains.

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority is governed by a Board of Directors which is consist of 16 representatives from its member agencies:

• Placer County Transportation Planning Agency (PCTPA)
• Solano Transportation Authority (STA)
• Yolo County Transportation District (YCTD)
• Sacramento Regional Transit District (Sac RT)
• San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART)
• Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA)

Equipment

A Capitol Corridor rounds San Pablo Bay near Pinole in 2011. An EMD F59PHI leads a mixed consist of 2 "California Cars" and 2 Superliner coaches.

The Capitol Corridor and its administration agency, the CCJPA, are responsible for the maintenance of the Amtrak California's Northern California fleet, which is used by both the Capitol Corridor and the San Joaquin routes.

When the Capitol Corridor debuted in 1991, it used Amtrak F40PH locomotives and Amtrak Horizon Fleet cars. Dash 8 locomotives were also used as they were brand new at the time. This equipment was used until the mid-1990s when most of the current state-purchased equipment arrived.

The current Northern California fleet includes fifteen EMD F59PHI locomotives (Numbered 2001 through 2015), and two GE P32-8WH (Dash 8) locomotives (Numbered 2051 & 2052, formerly Amtrak 501 & 502), and a large number of bi-level coaches and café cars which are known as "California Cars". All cars are named after mountains and rivers of California. There are two series of California Cars, the 8000 series and the newer 6000 series. Standard Amtrak equipment such as the GE P42DC, Amtrak's main locomotive, standard Amtrak Dash 8 locomotives, and Superliner cars appear on Capitol Corridor trains as substitutes.

In rarer cases, F59PHI's from the Amtrak "Surfliner" and "Cascades" trains are used. Before 2012, Caltrain EMD F40PH and MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives have been used as substitutes engines, and entire Caltrain trainsets have also been seen during busy periods, such as the peak Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

External links

Media related to Capitol Corridor at Wikimedia Commons

• Capitol Corridor
• Amtrak - Capitol Corridor