Coast Line (UP)

Bridge at Gaviota State Park, seen from the beach.

The Coast Line is a railroad line from Burbank, California 34°11′10″N 118°19′16″W / 34.1861°N 118.321°W / 34.1861; -118.321 north to the San Francisco Bay Area, roughly along the Pacific Coast. It is the shortest rail route from Los Angeles to the Bay Area.

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.^[1] The Montalvo Cutoff crossed the Santa Clara River to serve the farmers in the Oxnard Plain and was extended to Santa Susana in Simi Valley. The Santa Susana Tunnel opened in 1904 connecting with the Chatsworth cutoff from Burbank (34°14′57″N 119°12′46″W / 34.24917°N 119.2129°W / 34.24917; -119.2129) and thereafter was the main line.^[2] In 1907, the Bayshore Cutoff, a realignment directly south of San Francisco, opened from San Bruno to San Francisco; in 1935, another realignment near San Jose opened from Santa Clara to Seven Trees as the main line. Ownership is now Caltrain north of Santa Clara, and Union Pacific Railroad, which merged with SP in 1996, from there to northern Moorpark and Metrolink south of there.

Union Pacific freight trains run on the route, although the San Joaquin Valley route is the preferred North/South California route. The route hosts passenger trains for Amtrak, commuter rail trains for Metrolink in Southern California and Caltrain in Northern California.

Passenger trains

• Amtrak Pacific Surfliner
• Amtrak Coast Starlight
• Metrolink Ventura County Line
• Caltrain commuter rail

See also

• Surf Line, a continuation south to San Diego
• Cal-P Line, a continuation north to Sacramento.

References

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