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Capitol Corridor

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

The Capitol Corridor is a 172-mile (275 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Because it is fully supported by the state, the Capitol Corridor operates under Amtrak California. It runs daily from the San Francisco Bay Area to Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 80. One daily-scheduled train continues through the eastern Sacramento suburbs to Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. There are plans to extend one daily-scheduled train to Reno, Nevada, and to increase train frequency throughout the route. The trains are administered by the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, with management provided by employees of Bay Area Rapid Transit. The Capitol Corridor has been in operation since 1991.

The Capitol Corridor is also known as the Capitols on Amtrak's ticket reservation web page[1].

Service frequency and ridership

In fiscal year 2005-2006, the Capitol Corridor had about 1.3 million riders per year [2], and is the third busiest Amtrak route in terms of ridership, surpassed only by the Northeast Corridor and the Pacific Surfliner.

The Capitol Corridor service is commonly used by commuters between the Sacramento area and the Bay Area as an alternative to driving on the congested Interstate 80 corridor. Monthly passes and discounted trip tickets are available on the line. Many high ranking politicians, lobbyists, and their aides choose to 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. [3]

Since August 28, 2006, the Capitol Corridor route has run 32 trains per day (16 in each direction) on weekdays, reflecting a substantial increase over the prior service frequency. According to its management, ridership on the Capitol Corridor trains tripled between 1998 and 2005.[4]

Thruway Motorcoach services

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

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

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[5][6]. 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 [7].

Additionally, an extension of the route has been proposed to the existing Amtrak station in Reno, Nevada.

Origin of route name

The Capitol Corridor is given this name because it links the state's first capital and where the first state capitol was located, San Jose (1850), with the state's current capital, Sacramento. The rail route also travels near historical state capitals of Vallejo (1852) and Benicia (1853). (See also: Historical California capitals.)

The Capitol Corridor is originally known as the Capitols, as it is still called on Amtrak's reservation web page. But in order to avoid confusion with the Amtrak Capitol Limited route, which runs between Washington, D.C. and Chicago, Capitol Corridor is now the official and preferred name.

Governance

As an Amtrak California route, Capitol Corridor is fully funded by the state through Caltrans Division of Rail. Caltrans also 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:

Equipment

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.

The Northern California fleet includes fourteen 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 amount of bi-level coaches and café cars which are dubbed as "California Cars". All cars are named after the many mountains and rivers of California. There are two series of California Cars, the 6000 series and the 8000 series, with the 6000 series being newer. Standard Amtrak equipment such as the GE P42DC, Amtrak's main locomotive, standard Amtrak Dash 8 locomotives, and Superliner cars may appear on Capitol Corridor trains as substitutes.

In rarer cases, F59PHI's from the Amtrak "Surfliner" and "Cascades" trains, and Caltrain EMD F40PH and MPI MP36PH-3C locomotives have been used as substitutes. Caltrain engines will usually only be seen pulling a Capitol Corridor train when they are being taken to San Jose after maintenance performed in the Oakland rail yard.

When the Capitol Corridor debuted in 1991, the equipment used were Amtrak F40PH locomotves 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.

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References

  1. ^ Amtrak's Ticket Reservation Web Page
  2. ^ The Capitol Corridor 2007-2008 Business Plan
  3. ^ Capitol Corridor Ridership Grows On Stretching Bay Area Commutes
  4. ^ Capitol Corridor's Largest Service Increase Ever Brings More Direct Trains To Sacramento
  5. ^ Fairfield Planning Dept. - TRAIN STATION SPECIFIC PLAN
  6. ^ Capitol Corridor - Issue 17, June 2004
  7. ^ SamTrans - Dumbarton Rail Corridor
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