San Joaquin (Amtrak)

San Joaquin
A San Joaquin at Bakersfield
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail
Locale	California
Predecessor	San Joaquin Daylight
First service	March 5, 1974
Current operator(s)	Amtrak in partnership with Caltrans
Average ridership	2,924 daily 1,067,441 total (FY11)
Route
Start	Bakersfield, California
End	Oakland, California Sacramento, California
Distance travelled	315 miles (507 km) (Oakland) 282 miles (454 km) (Sacramento)
Train number(s)	701, 702, 703, 704, 711, 712, 713, 714, 715, 716, 717, 718
Technical
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Track owner(s)	UP and BNSF
Route map Legend 0 Bakersfield 26 mi (42 km) Wasco 63 mi (100 km) Corcoran 80 mi (130 km) Hanford 111 mi (180 km) Fresno 132 mi (210 km) Madera 168 mi (270 km) Merced 192 mi (310 km) Turlock/Denair 204 mi (330 km) Modesto 234 mi (380 km) Stockton-Cabral 237 mi (380 km) Stockton-San Joaquin 246 mi (400 km) Lodi Delta Coast Starlight/California Zephyr 282 mi (450 km) Sacramento 264 mi (420 km) Antioch-Pittsburg 282 mi (450 km) Martinez Capitol Corridor to Sacramento 303 mi (490 km) Richmond 310 mi (500 km) Emeryville 315 mi (510 km) Oakland-Jack London to Los Angeles

The San Joaquin (sometimes referred to as San Joaquins) is a passenger train operated by Amtrak as part of the Amtrak California network in California's Central Valley. Twelve trains a day run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, where the route splits to Oakland (four trains each way a day) or Sacramento (two trains each way a day). At Bakersfield, Thruway Motorcoach bus service connects to Los Angeles Union Station and points in Southern California, the High Desert and the Central Coast. The San Joaquin does not continue south of Bakersfield because the only line between Bakersfield and points south, via Tehachapi Pass, is one of the world's busiest single-track freight rail lines.

The San Joaquin is Amtrak's fifth-busiest service and the railroad's third-busiest in California. During fiscal year 2011, the service carried over one million passengers, a 9.2% increase from FY2010. Total revenue during FY2011 was US$35,704,109, a 13.9% increase over FY2010.

Route

The San Joaquin runs from Bakersfield's Truxtun Avenue Station northward on BNSF Railway's Mojave Subdivision within Bakersfield, the Bakersfield Subdivision from Bakersfield to Calwa (Fresno), then on the Stockton Subdivision from Calwa to Stockton.

At Stockton the routes split to Oakland or Sacramento:

• The Oakland trains continue west on the Stockton Subdivision to Port Chicago. At Port Chicago they cross to the Union Pacific Railroad's Tracy Subdivision to Martinez, continue on the Martinez Subdivision to Emeryville, and finally a couple of miles on the Niles Subdivision to Oakland's Jack London Square station.

• Trains to the Sacramento Valley Rail Station diverge in Stockton and run north to Sacramento on Union Pacific's Fresno Subdivision and on the Martinez Subdivision within Sacramento.

Rolling stock

The San Joaquin is equipped with Amtrak California-fleet (bi-level, high-capacity) passenger cars of several types: coach-baggage car, cafe (dining) car, coach car, cab car, and cab-baggage car. A cab car is a typical coach with an engineer's operating cab and headlights on one end, allowing the train to be operated in push-pull mode, which eliminates the need to turn the train at each end-point. A cab-baggage is similar, but with space on the car's lower level for checked-luggage storage.

Two types of locomotives are used on the San Joaquin. The EMD F59PHI, road numbers CDTX 2001-2015, and the GE P32-8WH (Dash 8), road numbers CDTX 2051-2052. These locomotives are owned by the California Department of Transportation and carry its CDTX reporting marks. Other locomotives are occasionally seen on the San Joaquin, including Amtrak-owned Dash 8s and P42DCs. The Amtrak California locomotives and cars livery is unique to California.

A typical San Joaquin is a locomotive and four cars:

• Locomotive (end pointed towards Oakland/Sacramento)
• Coach-Baggage Car
• Coach Car
• Cafe Car
• Cab Car (end pointed towards Bakersfield)

or

• Locomotive (end pointed towards Oakland/Sacramento)
• Coach Car
• Coach Car
• Cafe Car
• Cab-Baggage Car (end pointed towards Bakersfield)

During some holiday seasons coaches may be added, resulting in five- or six-car trains.

History

Amtrak's San Joaquin began in March 1974. Service has increased from one round trip per day to four round trips to Oakland, plus two round trips to Sacramento.

The San Joaquin runs over rail lines that once hosted several trains a day. The two primary trains in the Central Valley were the Golden Gate, operated by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (predecessor to BNSF), and the San Joaquin Daylight operated by Southern Pacific Railroad (later acquired by Union Pacific).

In April 1965, as car travel increased and ridership on passenger trains continued to drop, the Santa Fe Railway received permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to severely curtail Golden Gate operations, with service finally abandoned three years later. The San Joaquin Daylight was discontinued with the start-up of Amtrak in May 1971.

Other passenger trains that ran through the Central Valley included Southern Pacific's Owl and Santa Fe's San Francisco Chief and Valley Flyer.

Proposed high-speed rail

Studies are underway for the California High-Speed Rail system between Northern and Southern California, and a US$9 billion ballot initiative was approved by the voters November 2008. In many places the route will run through the San Joaquin Valley along the same alignment as the San Joaquins. The first section that has been selected for construction is between Fresno and Bakersfield.

External links

• Amtrak California - San Joaquin