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Amtrak California (reporting markCDTX) is abrand name used by theCalifornia Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supportedAmtrak regional rail routes inCalifornia – theCapitol Corridor, thePacific Surfliner, and theSan Joaquins[1] – and their associated connecting network ofAmtrak Thruway transportation services.
TheNational Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) assumed operation of almost all intercity passenger rail in the United States in 1971. Service in California, as in most of the United States, was basic and infrequent. In 1976 California began providing financial assistance to Amtrak.[1] Around 1990, the Caltrans Division of Rail was formed to oversee state-financed rail operations and the brandAmtrak California started appearing on state-supported routes. Prior to that, rail management and oversight at Caltrans was part of the Division of Mass Transportation. The two divisions have since been merged into the Division of Rail and Mass Transportation.
In 1990, California passed Propositions 108 and 116, providing $3 billion for transportation projects ($7.2 billion after inflation), with a large portion going to rail service.[2] As a result, new locomotives and passenger cars were purchased by the state, and existing inter-city routes expanded. A more distinct image for Amtrak California, such as painting locomotives and passenger cars in "California Color" of blue and yellow, was established with the arrival of new rolling stock.
In 1998, while still funded by the state, the management of theCapitol Corridor was transferred to theCapitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA), formed by local jurisdictions of the line serves. In 2015 the management of theSan Joaquin and thePacific Surfliner were similarly transferred to theSan Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) and theLos Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN Corridor JPA), respectively.[3] As a result, theAmtrak California brand became less prominent in the websites and marketing materials. Caltrans still has a role in reviewing annual business plans submitted by the three JPA's.
As of 2022[update] Caltrans is studying Amtrakservice to the Coachella Valley.
ThePacific Surfliner servesSouthern California on a route betweenSan Luis Obispo andSan Diego viaLos Angeles; most trains only travel a portion of the route. It hugs theCalifornia coast for most of the route – coming as close as 100 ft (30 m) – providing views of thePacific Ocean. With 2.7 million passengers in fiscal year 2013, it is Amtrak California's most heavily used service and the most used Amtrak service outside theNortheast Corridor,[4] behind only theNortheast Regional and theAcela Express.[5] It is also the oldest, dating to 1939 with theSanta Fe'sSan Diegan. The train shares codes withMetrolink'sVentura County Line.
TheSan Joaquins operates 14 trains (7 in each direction) each day betweenBakersfield andStockton. From Stockton, five trains from Bakersfield continue west toOakland, while two trains proceed north to the state capital ofSacramento.Central Valley communities served includeFresno,Corcoran,Hanford,Lodi,Madera,Merced,Modesto,Turlock/Denair andWasco.Delta/Bay communities ofAntioch,Martinez, andRichmond are also served by theSan Joaquins. Los Angeles is not served on this route due to the bottleneck of theTehachapi Pass line, where theUnion Pacific prohibits passenger train use due tofreight traffic along the world's busiestsingle-track railway. TheSan Joaquins has operated since 1974.
TheCapitol Corridor route, operating since 1991, runs north fromSan Jose through theEast Bay to Oakland andRichmond, then east through theDelta communities of Martinez andSuisun City, and theSacramento Valley cities ofDavis and Sacramento. OneCapitol Corridor train per day continues east of Sacramento during the afternoon commute to the smallSierra Nevada town ofAuburn, returning in the morning. It is the fourth-busiest Amtrak route nationwide.
Amtrak California also contracts forAmtrak Thruway bus services.
| Route[6][7] | Termini | |
|---|---|---|
| Southern/Western | Northern/Eastern | |
| 1 | San Diego | Bakersfield |
| 1C | Santa Monica | Bakersfield |
| 3 | Stockton–San Joaquin Street | Redding |
| 6 | Santa Cruz | Stockton–San Joaquin Street |
| 7 | Martinez | Cal Poly Humboldt |
| 10 | UC Santa Barbara | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| 15 | Yosemite | Mammoth Lakes |
| 15A | Merced | Yosemite |
| 15B | Fresno | Yosemite |
| 17 | Santa Barbara | Oakland |
| 18 | Santa Maria | Visalia |
| 19 | San Bernardino | Bakersfield |
| 20 | Sacramento | Sparks, Nevada |
| 20C | Sacramento | Stateline, Nevada |
| 21 | Santa Barbara | San Jose |
| 39 | Fullerton | Indio |
| 99 | San Francisco | Emeryville |
In order to provide rail service in the Coachella valley, the Riverside County Transportation Commission, along with Caltrans are planning theCoachella Valley - San Gorgonio Passenger Rail service under the Amtrak California brand to bypass opposition from Union Pacific[8][9][10][11]
Amtrak California operates a fleet ofEMD F59PHI,GE Dash 8-32BWH andSiemens Charger locomotives. These locomotives are owned by Caltrans and carry the CDTXreporting marks.[12] Locomotives from Amtrak's national fleet such as theP42DC are often used as substitutes when the Amtrak California dedicated fleet of locomotives undergoes maintenance.
The 22 Siemens Charger locomotives are the newest members of the fleet, joined between 2017 and 2021. The Chargers were parts of a multi-state order funded by a combination of federal and state money. Illinois Department of Transportation, acting as the leading agency, awarded the order toSiemens on December 18, 2013.[13][14] Caltrans ordered the first six with the initial order in 2013, then exercised the option to buy 14 more locomotives in 2015 to replace Amtrak-owned locomotives used on thePacific Surfliner.[15] Two additional locomotives were ordered in 2016.
Amtrak California's routes typically use bi-level, high-capacity passenger cars, dubbed theSurfliner andCalifornia Car. All of the California Cars are owned by theCalifornia Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Amtrak owns most of the Surfliner cars with some owned by Caltrans.
The design of the cars is based on Amtrak'sSuperliner bi-level passenger cars, but several changes were made to the design to make the vehicle more suitable for corridor services with frequent stops. One significant difference is that the Surfliner and California Car have two sets of automatic doors on each side instead of only one manually operated door on the Superliners, which speeds up boarding and alighting considerably.[12] Additionally, Surfliner and California Car coaches are equipped with higher-density seating andbicycle racks to permit transport of unboxed bicycles.
Consists on theSan Joaquin,Capitol Corridor, andPacific Surfliner routes usually include between four and six cars, with one locomotive and a cab control car on the rear end.
In 2007, Amtrak California paid for the repair of seven wreck-damaged Superliner Coaches owned by Amtrak in exchange for a six-year lease, intended to quickly add capacity on busyCapitol Corridor andSan Joaquin trains. Four of the cars were painted to match the "California car" livery, and three were painted to match the "Surfliner" livery.[16]
Increasing ridership on theSan Joaquin led Amtrak California to purchase 14Comet IB rail cars fromNJ Transit in 2008 for $75,000 per car. Caltrans paid approximately $20 million to have these former commuter cars refurbished and reconfigured to serve as intercity coaches at Amtrak'sBeech Grove Shops.[17]
Caltrans has also paid to lease threeNon-Powered Control Units (oldF40PH locomotives converted to serve as a cab/baggage car). The agency also previously paid to lease and refurbish threeHorizon dinettes (used as café cars).[17]
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In November 2017, theCalifornia Department of Transportation announced that it would be ordering sevenSiemens Venture trainsets through its contractorSumitomo Corporation.[18] The states had initially contracted Sumitomo, which in turn subcontracted withNippon Sharyo, to build theNext Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Car, but a prototype car failed abuff strength test in August 2015. After the test failure, Sumitomo canceled its deal with Nippon Sharyo, and turned to Siemens to be the new subcontractor. The cars are being built at the Siemens factory inFlorin, California and will be hauled by California's existing fleet of diesel-electric locomotives.
California's trainsets will be used exclusively on the San Joaquins service and will consist of seven cars each: four coaches with economy seating, two coaches with economy seating andvending machines, and one cab car (control car) with economy seating. The order includes 49 cars for California, formed into seven semi-permanently-coupled trainsets. Since Siemens Venture trainsets were originally designed to be used with high platforms, the SJJPA was planning to modify all stations, adding twomini-high platforms (short lengths of high platform, each long enough for one door, with an accessible ramp to the longer low platform).[19] As delivered, the new Venture cars include trap door low level boarding with retractable steps to platform height, along with some cars in each trainset being equipped with wheelchair lifts. This enables them to be used with either low or high level platforms.
Amtrak California utilizes alivery and logo that is different from the standard Amtrak colors. All state-contractedAmtrak Thruway and state-ownedlocomotives andpassenger cars, with the exception of equipment used on thePacific Surfliner route, are painted in the "California Colors" of blue and yellow. Each permanently assigned passenger car is named after a geographical feature of California.
TheCapitol Corridor andSan Joaquins trains are the two routes most identified with the Amtrak California image, since they extensively use "California Colored" equipment. The other state-supported rail route, thePacific Surfliner, uses a unique blue and silver paint scheme that is different from the other Amtrak California-branded trains.
The NPCUs that operate on theCapitol Corridor andSan Joaquins are painted differently from the locomotives, as they are painted in the old "Caltrain" locomotive livery, with anAmtrak California andCaltrans logo on the sides. The single level cars, both the Comet cars and the Horizon dinettes, have three stripes closest to the boarding doors, orange, blue and green, which resemble theNJ Transit livery that was previously used on the Comet cars.
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