Coast Starlight

Background

Before the formation of Amtrak, no passenger train ran the entire length of the West Coast. The closest equivalent was the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP)'s West Coast, which ran via the San Joaquin Valley from Los Angeles to Portland from 1924 to 1949, with through cars to Seattle via the Great Northern Railway (GN).

By 1971, the SP operated just two daily trains between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area: the Los Angeles–San Francisco Coast Daylight via the Coast Line, and the Los Angeles–Oakland San Joaquin Daylight via the Central Valley. The SP also operated the tri-weekly Cascade between Oakland and Portland, Oregon. The Burlington Northern Railroad (BN) and Union Pacific Railroad ran three daily round trips between Portland and Seattle. The Santa Fe ran the San Diegan between Los Angeles and San Diego.

Amtrak era

The Seattle–San Diego route was initially left out of plans for Railpax (later Amtrak) until protests from politicians in California, Oregon, and Washington.^[5] With the start of Amtrak operations on May 1, 1971, a single train began running between Seattle and San Diego. The unnamed train (#11/12) ran three days a week; on the other four days, another unnamed train (#98/99) ran between Oakland and Los Angeles.^[6] On November 14, Amtrak extended the Oakland–Los Angeles train to San Diego, renumbered it to #12/13, and renamed it Coast Daylight. The Seattle–San Diego train became the Coast Daylight/Starlight (#11-12) northbound and Coast Starlight/Daylight (#13-14) southbound.^[7] Both trains were cut back from San Diego to Los Angeles in April 1972, replaced by a third San Diegan.^[8] On June 10, 1973, Amtrak began running the combined Coast Daylight/Starlight daily for the summer months.^[9] Positive response led to Amtrak to retain this service, and the Coast Daylight name was dropped on May 19, 1974.^[8]

An additional train, the Spirit of California, ran the section of the route between Sacramento and Los Angeles on an overnight schedule from October 25, 1981, to September 30, 1983.^[10] From November 10, 1996, to October 25, 1997, through coaches were transferred between the Coast Starlight and San Diegan at Los Angeles.^[11][12][13]

The Coast Starlight originally used the Southern Pacific West Valley Line between Tehama and Davis. That route included a stop at Orland,^[14] but bypassed Sacramento. On April 26, 1982, the train was rerouted via Roseville on the Southern Pacific Valley and Martinez Subdivisions, with stops added at Sacramento, Chico, and Marysville,^[15] per request from the state.^[16][10] In 1999, the Coast Starlight was rerouted onto the more direct ex-Western Pacific Sacramento Subdivision between Marysville and Sacramento, with the Marysville stop closed.^[17]

Ridership declined by 26% between 1999 and 2005 as freight congestion and track maintenance on the Union Pacific Railroad reduced the Coast Starlight's on-time performance to 2%, which Amtrak characterized as "dismal." By mid-summer in 2006 delays of 5–11 hours were common. Critics dubbed the train the Star-late.^[18] During early summer 2008, the Coast Starlight was relaunched with new amenities and refurbished equipment. In July 2008, refurbished Pacific Parlour cars returned to service as part of the relaunch. This was much anticipated, due to the success of Amtrak's relaunch of the Empire Builder. Between FY 2008 and FY 2009, ridership on the Coast Starlight jumped 15% from 353,657 passengers to 406,398 passengers.^{[citation needed]} Operating conditions on the UP improved as well; by May 2008 on-time performance had reached 86%.^[19]

Service was suspended north of Sacramento for a month in 2017 after a freight derailment damaged a bridge near Mount Shasta, California.^[20]

On February 24, 2019, the southbound Coast Starlight struck a fallen tree near Oakridge, Oregon, after a rare heavy snowstorm. The train was stranded for 36 hours before tracks could be cleared for a Union Pacific locomotive to tow the train back to Eugene–Springfield.^[21]

From October 1, 2020, to May 24, 2021, daily service was reduced to three trains per week due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[22][23] On May 24, 2021, as part of its post-COVID service restorations, Amtrak restored the Coast Starlight frequency to daily service in both directions.^[24]

In late June 2021, the Lava Fire seriously damaged a Union Pacific trestle on the Black Butte Subdivision between Klamath Falls, Oregon, and Dunsmuir, California.^[25] As a result, the Coast Starlight was initially split into two segments: Seattle to Klamath Falls and Sacramento to Los Angeles with a bus replacement service filling the gap between Klamath Falls and Sacramento.^[26] However, on July 2, 2021, it was announced that service would be discontinued between Seattle and Sacramento until July 14, 2021, with Amtrak Cascades replacing service for passengers booked between Seattle and Eugene. Through service resumed on July 15, using overnight buses between Sacramento and Klamath Falls, and full-route train operation resumed on August 23.^[27]

A resurgence of the COVID-19 virus caused by the Omicron variant caused Amtrak to reduce the frequency of this route to five-weekly round trips from January to March 2022.^[28]

Trains began running over the Point Defiance Bypass between Tacoma and DuPont, Washington starting on November 18, 2021.^[29]

Future improvements

The 2018 California State Rail Plan, prepared by Caltrans, outlines a number of planned improvements to rail infrastructure in the state of California.^[30] The plan was updated in 2023.^[31] In 2022, the California Transportation Commission approved $7.5 million for the construction of a new station in King City to improve access to the region,^[32] including nearby Fort Hunter Liggett and Pinnacles National Park.^[33] There is also a proposal in the Capitol Corridor Vision plan to improve the right-of-way shared by the Capitol Corridor and Coast Starlight between Oakland and Martinez.^[34] The proposal would re-route the train from along the shores of San Pablo Bay and the Carquinez Strait to a new tunnel through Franklin Canyon and a right-of-way next to California State Route 4 that would reduce the trip time by several minutes.

Stations

More information State/Province, City ...

Amtrak Coast Starlight stations

State/Province	City	Station	Connections
Washington	Seattle	Seattle King Street	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades, Empire Builder Amtrak Thruway Sounder: N Line, S Line Link Light Rail: First Hill Streetcar ST Express, Travel Washington Community Transit, King County Metro
	Tacoma	Tacoma Dome	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades Sounder: S Line Link Light Rail: Greyhound Lines ST Express Intercity Transit, Pierce Transit
	Lacey	Olympia–Lacey	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades Intercity Transit
	Centralia	Centralia	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades Lewis County Transit
	Kelso	Kelso	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades Greyhound Lines RiverCities Transit
	Vancouver	Vancouver	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades, Empire Builder
Oregon	Portland	Portland	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades, Empire Builder MAX Light Rail: Orange Line, Yellow Line, Green Line Portland Streetcar The Bus, Central Oregon Breeze, FlixBus, Pacific Crest Lines, POINT, Shuttle Oregon, The Wave Trimet Bus
	Salem	Salem	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades Greyhound Lines POINT, Shuttle Oregon, The Wave Cherriots
	Albany	Albany	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades POINT Albany Transit System, Benton Area Transit, Linn-Benton Loop, Linn Shuttle
	Eugene	Eugene–Springfield	Amtrak: Amtrak Cascades POINT, Pacific Crest Bus Lines Lane Transit District, Link Lane
	Chemult	Chemult	Pacific Crest Bus Lines
	Klamath Falls	Klamath Falls	POINT, Pacific Crest Bus Lines Basin Transit Service, Crater Lake Trolley, Sage Stage
California	Dunsmuir	Dunsmuir
	Redding	Redding	Amtrak Thruway: 3 Greyhound Lines FlixBus Redding Area Bus Authority, Sage Stage, Trinity Transit
	Chico	Chico	Amtrak Thruway: 3 Greyhound Lines FlixBus Glenn Ride
	Sacramento	Sacramento	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, Gold Runner Amtrak Thruway: 3, 20, 20C SacRT: Gold El Dorado Transit, Sacramento RT
	Davis	Davis	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor Amtrak Thruway: 3 Unitrans
	Martinez	Martinez	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, Gold Runner Amtrak Thruway: 7 County Connection, Tri Delta Transit, WestCAT
	Emeryville	Emeryville	Amtrak: California Zephyr, Capitol Corridor, Gold Runner Amtrak Thruway: 99 AC Transit, Emery Go-Round
	Oakland	Oakland–Jack London Square	Amtrak: Capitol Corridor, Gold Runner Amtrak Thruway: 17 AC Transit
	San Jose	San Jose Diridon	Amtrak: Capitol Corridor Amtrak Thruway: 6, 17, 21 Altamont Corridor Express Caltrain VTA Light Rail: Green Line Greyhound Lines Santa Cruz Metro, VTA Bus
	Salinas	Salinas	Amtrak Thruway: 17, 21 Greyhound Lines Monterey-Salinas Transit
	Paso Robles	Paso Robles	Amtrak Thruway: 17, 18, 21 Monterey-Salinas Transit, Paso Express, San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Authority
	San Luis Obispo	San Luis Obispo	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Amtrak Thruway: 17, 18, 21 SLO Transit
	Santa Barbara	Santa Barbara	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Amtrak Thruway: 10, 17, 21 Greyhound Lines FlixBus Santa Barbara MTD
	Oxnard	Oxnard	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Amtrak Thruway: 10 Metrolink: Ventura County Greyhound Lines FlixBus Gold Coast Transit
	Simi Valley	Simi Valley	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Metrolink: Ventura County VCTC Intercity Simi Valley Transit
	Van Nuys	Van Nuys	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Amtrak Thruway: 1C Metrolink: Ventura County LADOT DASH, Los Angeles Metro Bus
	Burbank	Burbank Airport-South	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner Amtrak Thruway: 1C Metrolink: Ventura County Burbank Bus, Los Angeles Metro Bus
	Los Angeles	Los Angeles Union	Amtrak: Pacific Surfliner, Southwest Chief, Sunset Limited, Texas Eagle Amtrak Thruway: 1 Metrolink: 91/Perris Valley Antelope Valley Orange County Riverside San Bernardino Ventura County Metro: A Line, B Line, D Line, J Line FlixBus Greyhound Lines Los Angeles Metro Bus, Antelope Valley Transit Authority, City of Commerce Transit, City of Santa Clarita Transit, LAX FlyAway, LADOT Commuter Express, LADOT DASH, Mount St. Mary's College Shuttle, University of Southern California Shuttles, Foothill Transit, Big Blue Bus, Torrance Transit, Dodger Stadium Express

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