Coast Line (Union Pacific Railroad)

The San Francisco and San Jose Railroad built the first segment of the line from San Francisco to San Jose between 1860 and 1864. The founders of the SF&SJ incorporated as the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was authorized by Congress in 1866 to connect the line from San Jose south to Needles, where it would meet the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. However, SP had built to Tres Pinos by 1873 and abandoned efforts to continue the line to Coalinga, instead choosing a route from Lathrop.[1]

By 1871, SP had completed a line south from San Jose through Gilroy and Pajaro, arriving at Salinas in 1872 and Soledad in 1873. SP halted southward work at Soledad for thirteen years and started building north from Los Angeles in 1873, completing a line to Burbank. In 1886, SP had pushed south from Soledad to King City, Paso Robles, and Templeton; by 1887, the southern portion of the line had been extended through Newhall, Saugus, and Santa Paula to Santa Barbara.[1]

By 1894, SP had extended the line south from Templeton to San Luis Obispo.[2] The work continued south to Guadalupe in 1895 and Surf in 1896.[1] The 80-mile (130 km) gap between Surf and Santa Barbara was closed with the last spike driven on December 28, 1900.[3]

Southbound Coast Daylight, at Auzerais Street in San Jose in April 1970

The first version of the Coast Line, via Saugus and Santa Paula through the Santa Clara River Valley, was completed by the Southern Pacific Railroad on December 31, 1900.[4][5]

The work between Ventura and Carpenteria eventually allowed the construction of the Rincon sea-level road for automobile traffic to travel this formerly impassible section of coastline.

Work on the Montalvo Cutoff, which crossed the Santa Clara River to serve the farmers in the Oxnard Plain and was extended to Santa Susana in Simi Valley, began in 1898.[1] The Santa Susana Tunnel opened in 1904 connecting with the Chatsworth cutoff from Burbank[lower-alpha 2] and thereafter was the main line.[6][7] A new straighter track was built between Chatsworth and Burbank to coincide with the new route, and the original line through the San Fernando Valley was designated as the Burbank branch.[8] In 1907, the Bayshore Cutoff opened from San Bruno[lower-alpha 3] to San Francisco; in 1935 the new line around San Jose opened[lower-alpha 4] and thereafter was the main line.

In the golden era of passenger service SP trains on the San Francisco leg of this route ran from the Third and Townsend Depot in San Francisco to the Union Station in Los Angeles. The Oakland-Los Angeles trains originated from the 16th Street Station in Oakland.

Coast Subdivision
Niles Subdivision Ardenwood proposed Newark Lead to Dumbarton Bridge Niles Subdivision Albrae Siding Drawbridge Alameda County Santa Clara County Coyote Creek Lick Mill (VTA) Santa Clara – Great America PCJPB Peninsula Subdivision Coast Sub Peninsula Sub Caltrain to San Francisco Santa Clara–University College Park Caltrain Centralized Equipment Maintenance and Operations Facility Warm Springs Subdivision VTA to Winchester Transit Center San Jose Vasona Industrial Lead VTA to Alum Rock Tamien Peninsula Sub Coast Sub Capitol Blossom Hill Morgan Hill Morgan Hill Controlled Siding San Martin Gilroy Hollister Subdivision Santa Clara County Monterey County Watsonville Yard SCMB Pajaro/Watsonville proposed Moss Landing Castroville proposed Monterey Branch Line Salinas Gonzales Soledad King City San Ardo Wunpost Bradley Monterey County San Luis Obispo County McKay Paso Robles Templeton Santa Margarita Siding Cuestra Pass elev. 1,323 ft (403 m) Serrano Siding Chorro Siding Santa Barbara Subdivision

Santa Barbara Subdivision
Coast Subdivision San Luis Obispo Grover Beach Callender Bromela San Luis Obispo County Santa Barbara County Guadalupe Santa Maria Valley Railroad Waldorf Devon Narlon Tangair White Hills Branch Lompoc–Surf Honda Sudden Concepcion Gaviota Capitan Goleta Santa Barbara Carpinteria Santa Barbara County Ventura County Ventura SCRRA Montalvo Subdivision Santa Clara River Oxnard Camarillo Somis SCRRA Ventura Subdivision

The line has several subdivisions.[9]

Ownership is currently split into three segments:

• Caltrain north of Santa Clara[lower-alpha 5]
• Union Pacific Railroad, which merged with the Southern Pacific (SP) in 1996, from there to the north end of Moorpark[lower-alpha 6]
• Metrolink south of Moorpark.

In 1992, Southern Pacific granted the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission an option to purchase the entire Coast Line for passenger train operations at 110 mi/h (180 km/h). Upgrades to signals and tracks to enable higher-speed operations were estimated to cost $360 million at the time.[10]

Portion of route shown in gray on statewide rail modernization map. The rest of the map is outdated in relation to CAHSR's planned opening schedule.

Union Pacific freight trains run on the route, although the Fresno Subdivision through the San Joaquin Valley is the preferred north–south California route due to having easier grades and curves.[11] The freight trains are typically local freights, empty baretable and autorack trains.

The Coast Line is used by commuter, regional, and inter-city passenger trains:

• Amtrak California
  • Pacific Surfliner (San Luis Obispo–San Diego)
  • Capitol Corridor (Auburn–San Jose)
• Amtrak Coast Starlight (Los Angeles–Seattle)
• Metrolink Ventura County Line (Ventura–Los Angeles)
• Caltrain (San Francisco–Gilroy)

Local agencies along with the host railroads formed the Los Angeles–San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN) in 1989 to work together on upgrading the route between San Luis Obispo and San Diego. Millions in enhancements to improve the reliability and safety of this 351-mile-long (565 km) railroad corridor have been proposed by Caltrans and federal railroad officials. Ventura County would get rail curve realignments near Seacliff, the Santa Clara River and Montalvo in the near term for an estimated $300 million. Future rail service could include a Ventura–Santa Barbara commuter train.[12] Long-range plans also including commuter service between Ventura and Santa Clarita along the original route through the Santa Clara River Valley. The Ventura County Transportation Commission purchased the Santa Paula Branch Line within Ventura County from Southern Pacific. While a portion of the line was abandoned after being washed out in Los Angeles County, the proposed Newhall Ranch development will provide for a route through the community.[13]