Capitol Corridor

Capitol Corridor

A Capitol Corridor train in Rodeo in January 2010
Overview
Service type	Inter-city rail/Commuter rail
Locale	Northern California
First service	December 12, 1991
Current operator(s)	Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, in partnership with Amtrak and Caltrans
Annual ridership	1,607,277 (FY17)[1]
Website	Capitol Corridor
Route
Start	Auburn, California
Stops	17
End	San Jose, California
Distance travelled	168 miles (270 km)
Average journey time	3 hours 15 minutes
Train number(s)	Weekdays: 520-553 Weekends: 720-751
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) (standard gauge)
Track owner(s)	UP and JPBX
Route map California Zephyr to Chicago Colfax closed 2000 0 mi 0 km Auburn 14 mi 23 km Rocklin 18 mi 29 km Roseville Placer County Sacramento County American River San Joaquin to Bakersfield Coast Starlight to Seattle 35 mi 56 km Sacramento Sacramento County Yolo County Sacramento River 49 mi 79 km Davis Yolo County Solano County Fairfield-Vacaville 75 mi 121 km Suisun-Fairfield Solano County Contra Costa County Carquinez Strait San Joaquin to Bakersfield 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 Oakland-16th Street closed 1994 BART to San Francisco) 125 mi 201 km Oakland – Jack London Square 130 mi 209 km Oakland Coliseum 138 mi 222 km Hayward Union City planned Alameda Creek ACE to Stockton–Downtown BART to Warm Springs/​South Fremont 150 mi 241 km Fremont Alameda County Santa Clara County Coyote Creek Lick Mill (VTA) 161 mi 259 km Santa Clara – Great America Caltrain to San Francisco 165 mi 266 km Santa Clara – University VTA to Winchester Transit Center 168 mi 270 km San Jose extension to Salinas (2020) Tamien VTA to Santa Teresa Morgan Hill Gilroy Santa Clara County Monterey County Pajaro/Watsonville planned Castroville planned Salinas Coast Starlight to Los Angeles

The Capitol Corridor is a 168-mile (270 km) passenger train route operated by Amtrak in California. Capitol Corridor trains operate between San Jose and Sacramento, roughly parallel to Interstate 880 and Interstate 80. One train a day continues through the eastern Sacramento suburbs to Auburn, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Capitol Corridor trains started in 1991.

Like all regional trains in California, the Capitol Corridor is operated by a joint powers authority. The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) is governed by a board that includes two elected representatives from each of eight counties the train travels through. The CCJPA contracts with the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District to provide day-to-day management, and Amtrak to operate and maintain the rolling stock (locomotives and passenger cars). The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) provides the funding and also owns the rolling stock.

History

Capitols

A Capitols train at Sacramento in 1995

At the start of the 1990s, three Amtrak intercity trains operated in the Bay Area: the long-distance California Zephyr (Oakland/Emeryville–Chicago) and Coast Starlight (Los Angeles–Seattle), and the regional San Joaquin (Bakersfield-Oakland). Of the three lines, only the Coast Starlight ran between San Jose and Sacramento—once a day and at inconvenient times. In 1990, California voters passed two ballot 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.^[5]

One of the ballot propositions, Proposition 116, provided the name Capitol Corridor—so named because it links the location of California's first state capitol, San Jose, with the current location, Sacramento.^[3]:7 The service was known as the Capitols until 2001, when Amtrak began using Capitol Corridor on timetables.^[6][7]

Proposed expansion

New stations

A Capitol Corridor train passing the site of the planned Hercules station

Additional stations have been proposed along the route at Hercules, Benicia, and Dixon. 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 cities via the Dumbarton Rail Bridge.^[9] The station is being planned and paid for by BART and the city of Union City.^[10]

Vision Plan

The Capitol Corridor Vision Implementation Plan is a long range outline of possible improvements to the service; several realignments along existing and new right-of-ways were considered and studied. Near term suggested improvements include double tracking between San Jose and a realignment to the Coast Subdivision and a new station at the Ardenwood Park-and-Ride followed by track improvements between Emeryville and Richmond. Later goals include tunneling under Jack London Square to eliminate the street-running section there, rerouting freight traffic over another right-of-way between Sacramento and Martinez, and eventual electrification of the line.^[11]

Extensions

Two daily Capitol Corridor round trips, along with some Caltrain service, are planned to be extended to Salinas station in 2020.^[12] Initial service will have intermediate stops at existing Caltrain stations at Tamien, Morgan Hill, and Gilroy; future phases will add new stations at Castroville and Watsonville/Pajaro.^[13]

Preliminary work has started to add second pair of tracks between Oakland and San Jose, which would enable most trains to run from Sacramento to San Jose. A third track between Sacramento and Roseville is planned, which would allow an increase from one round trip per day to 10.^[14]

Frequency and ridership

Amtrak Capitol Corridor (interactive map)

During fiscal year 2017 the Capitol Corridor service carried 1,607,277 passengers, a 2.9% increase over FY2016.^[1] Revenue in FY2017 was $33,970,000, a 5.3% increase over FY2016, with a 57% farebox recovery ratio.^[1] It is the fourth busiest Amtrak route by ridership, surpassed only by the Northeast Regional, Acela Express, and Pacific Surfliner. As of 2017, Sacramento is the busiest station on the route and the seventh busiest in the Amtrak system.^[15]

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.^[16]

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.^[17] On August 13, 2012, the Capitol Corridor dropped from 16 to 15 weekday round trips between Oakland and Sacramento; one round trip was discontinued due to high fuel costs, low ridership, and a new ability to store an extra train overnight in a Sacramento railyard.^[18]

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 Oakland Jack London Square. Seven trains run San Jose to Sacramento, six downtown Oakland to Sacramento, one Coliseum to Sacramento and one Oakland to Auburn.

Stations and connections

Governance

A Capitol Corridor train with CCJPA-maintained California Cars and Amtrak-maintained P42 diesel locomotive passing through Alviso in 2016

The Capitol Corridor is fully funded by the state through Caltrans Division of Rail and Mass Transportation (DRMT). 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.^[19]

The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority is governed by a Board of Directors which consists 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), two GE P32-8WH (Dash 8) locomotives (numbered 2051 & 2052, formerly Amtrak 501 & 502), six Siemens Charger locomotives (numbered 2101 through 2106) 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 can appear on Capitol Corridor trains as substitutes.

In rarer cases, F59PHIs 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.

See also

• Train Life, a 2006 documentary films about passengers on the Capitol Corridor

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Capitol Corridor.

Route map:

• Capitol Corridor - official website
• Amtrak - Capitol Corridor