Sonoma County Airport station, featuring a gauntlet track

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit, or SMART, is a commuter rail service in California's Sonoma and Marin counties. As of 2019 the line serves 12 stations: ten opened in the initial operating segment (IOS) and two were added when the line was extended to Larkspur. Four more stations are planned to open after further construction.[1]

The main line was built primarily by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad and received regular service until 1958 when passenger trains were discontinued south of Willits. After the decline in railway traffic in the post-WWII years, the line was eventually closed to all rail activity. The right-of-way was acquired by a special-purpose district and reopened to freight movements in 2011 and passenger service on August 25, 2017.[2]

Station platforms are 300 feet (91 m) in length (the sole exception is San Rafael's 285-foot (87 m) northbound platform) and are high-level to provide accessible boarding. Gauntlet tracks are installed at stations north of Ignacio to allow freight trains to pass with proper clearance.[3] Novato Downtown, San Rafael, and Santa Rosa stations are located adjacent to former NWP station buildings (as will be Healdsburg and Windsor), but the buildings are used for other purposes.

Stations

County Municipality Station Connections Service began Parking spaces Image
SonomaMark West Sonoma County Airport†Bus interchange Sonoma County Transit
Bus interchange Shuttle to Airport interchange Sonoma County Airport[4]		August 25, 2017[b]50Sonoma County Airport station in 2016, featuring a gauntlet track
Santa Rosa Santa Rosa NorthBus interchange Santa Rosa CityBus
Bus interchange Sonoma County Transit[4]		0A northbound train at Santa Rosa North station, 2018
Santa Rosa DowntownA northbound train at Santa Rosa Downtown station, 2018
Rohnert Park Rohnert ParkBus interchange Sonoma County Transit[4]August 25, 2017[a]n/aThe platform at Rohnert Park station, 2018
Cotati Cotatin/aThe platforms at Cotati station, 2018
Petaluma Petaluma DowntownBus interchange Sonoma County Transit[4]
Bus interchange Petaluma Transit		50A southbound train at Petaluma Downtown station, 2019
MarinNovato Novato San MarinBus interchange Golden Gate Transit
Bus interchange Marin Transit		45A northbound train at Novato San Marin station, 2018
Novato DowntownDecember 14, 20190A southbound train at Novato Downtown station, 2019
Novato HamiltonAugust 25, 2017[a]115A view of Novato Hamilton station from Main Gate Road, 2018
San Rafael Marin Civic CenterBus interchange Marin Transit[d]A northbound train at Marin Civic Center station, 2018
San RafaelBus interchange Golden Gate Transit
Bus interchange Marin Airporter
Bus interchange Marin Transit
Bus interchange Sonoma County Transit
Greyhound Lines Greyhound Bus Lines		August 25, 2017[c]0The platforms at San Rafael Transit Center, 2018
Larkspur Larkspur†Bus interchange Marin Transit
ferry/water interchange Larkspur Ferry Terminal		December 14, 2019n/aThe first revenue train at Larkspur station in December 2019
† Line termini

Notes
a Station opened to limited preview service on June 29, 2017.[5]
b Station opened to limited preview service on July 1, 2017.[5]
c Station opened to limited preview service on July 8, 2017.[6]
d Free street parking

Future stations

Station Projected opening Municipality County Status / Notes
Cloverdale†2027[7]CloverdaleSonomaEventual northern terminus of system
Healdsburg2027Healdsburg
Windsor2025Windsor
Petaluma North2025PetalumaPlanned infill station

Suggestions have been put forward to eventually expand to Napa or Solano counties with connections at Suisun–Fairfield station,[7] or north along the Northwestern Pacific right of way to Ukiah or Willits[8][9] in Mendocino.

References

  1. ↑ Prado, Mark (April 8, 2016). "SMART OKs rail stop in downtown Novato". Marin Independent Journal. Digital First Media.
  2. ↑ "Freight Trains and Passenger Trains," (PDF). Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit. July 2008. Archived from the original (pdf) on June 13, 2010.
  3. ↑ SMA Rail Consulting (April 2016). "California Passenger Rail Network Schematics" (PDF). California Department of Transportation.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Moore, Derek (July 14, 2017). "Sonoma County adds bus routes designed to serve SMART train users". The Press Democrat. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  5. 1 2 "SMART Preview: Take a Ride with Us". Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit. Archived from the original on June 30, 2017. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  6. ↑ "SMART announces dates and schedule for free public Preview Rides in July" (PDF) (Press release). Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit. July 3, 2017.
  7. 1 2 "2018 California State Rail Plan (Draft)" (PDF). CalTrans. Retrieved 7 November 2017.
  8. ↑ Quackenbush, Gary (30 October 2018). "SMART train system details roll-out to Windsor, Healdsburg, Cloverdale, Sonoma". North Bay Business Journal. Retrieved 2 November 2018.
  9. ↑ Fixler, Kevin. "North Coast trail bill re-imagines SMART rail operations extending into Mendocino County". www.pressdemocrat.com. The Press Democrat. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit stations.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.