Bakersfield (Amtrak station)
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Bakersfield station is an intermodal facility in
Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
. It is the southern terminus of
Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak commuter rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...
's ''
San Joaquins The ''San Joaquins'' is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. Six daily round trips run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, with onward service to Sacramento (all round trips) an ...
'' route, with
Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transit ...
buses continuing to Amtrak stations and bus stops throughout Southern California and Nevada. The station opened with a celebration on July 4, 2000. It contains an train station with two platforms and three tracks, as well as a 17-bay bus station. The original operator for train service on this line was the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
. Their station was located at the intersection of 15th Street and F Street (about west). It was constructed in 1899 and demolished in 1972. Named Santa Fe passenger trains served at the station included the ''
San Francisco Chief The ''San Francisco Chief'' was a streamlined passenger train on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway ("Santa Fe") between Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area. It ran from 1954 until 1971. The ''San Francisco Chief'' was the last new str ...
'', and ''
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by th ...
''. Starting in 1974,
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
operated out of a temporary station at that site, until this station was constructed. Since 1971, direct service south to Los Angeles has not been permitted due to a ban on passenger trains through the
Tehachapi Loop The Tehachapi Loop is a long spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin V ...
.


History

Construction of the
San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad The San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad was a California rail line between Stockton and Bakersfield constructed in the late 1890s and very shortly thereafter purchased by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and became their Val ...
reached
Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...
in 1898, and was completed in 1899. However, they would not construct a train station in the city, because once completed, the railroad was purchased by
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...
. It would also obtain trackage rights over
Tehachapi Pass Tehachapi Pass (Kawaiisu: ''Tihachipia'', meaning "hard climb") is a mountain pass crossing the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, California. Traditionally, the pass marks the northeast end of the Tehachapis and the south end of the Sierra Neva ...
from the
Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
. They constructed the Bakersfield Santa Fe Station in 1899, at the intersection of F Street and 15th Street.Bakersfield, California
The Great American Stations. Accessed: 05-12-2011.
The station occupied two blocks of land, between D Street and F Street. A
Harvey House The Fred Harvey Company was the owner of the Harvey House chain of restaurants, hotels and other hospitality industry businesses alongside railroads in the Western United States. It was founded in 1876 by Fred Harvey to cater to the growing n ...
was located on the east side of the station. In 1901, the
Bakersfield and Kern Electric Railway The Bakersfield and Kern Electric Railway was a streetcar company which operated between Bakersfield and Sumner (later Kern City), in California. Later, after Kern City was annexed by Bakersfield, the streetcar company operated completely in Ba ...
was relocated to serve the station. It provided a direct connection between the Bakersfield Santa Fe Station and the Bakersfield Southern Pacific Station (about 2.5 miles east in
East Bakersfield East Bakersfield is a region in Bakersfield, California directly east of downtown. The region was formerly known as the town of Sumner, which was later incorporated and renamed Kern City. It is primarily a mixture of residential and commercial d ...
). In 1938, Santa Fe began operating intermodal rail service on the San Joaquin Valley line. Trains would travel between
Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...
and Bakersfield on the railroad line. At Bakersfield passengers would transfer to one of several bus routes, which departed for destinations in
Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...
. As a result, bus bays were constructed at the station. Service continued until 1971, when
Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
was formed. Since a rail route along the coast and in the
San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven c ...
was considered redundant, the San Joaquin Valley route was dropped. In 1972, the train station was demolished by Santa Fe and replaced with freight offices and a parking lot. However, train service restarted only two years later, in 1974. It was decided to use the intermodal route previously used by Santa Fe, instead of the Tehachapi route used by Southern Pacific. This would pose a problem for Bakersfield. The city would serve as the transfer point between rail and bus, but did not have any facilities for it.Valley Views - Bakersfield
trainweb.org. Accessed: 05-23-2011.
A temporary structure was erected at the new parking lot (part of the previous site occupied by the station) east of the freight offices, to serve as the station. Buses would park wherever space was available. The station was served by only one track. As ridership increased, the station became ineffective at containing all of the passengers. Also, adding more bus routes forced them to park in an adjacent alley. In 1985, the temporary structure was doubled in size in an attempt to keep up with demand. In the late 1990s, plans were started for the construction of a new, permanent train station. Land at the intersection of Truxtun Avenue and S Street was selected for the site. It would cost $5.1 million, funded by the State of California with Bakersfield as the lead agency. The station would officially open on July 4, 2000, with a demonstration train breaking through a ceremonial barrier. In attendance were the mayor, state senator
Jim Costa James Manuel Costa (born April 13, 1952) is an American politician serving as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for since 2023, previously representing the California's 20th congressional district, 20th congressio ...
, and Amtrak officials. Country music star
Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for the Buckaroos, Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 ...
(who lived in Bakersfield) performed at the event. The Bakersfield station of the
California High-Speed Rail California High-Speed Rail (also known as CAHSR or CHSR) is a publicly funded high-speed rail system currently under construction in California in the United States. Planning for the project began in 1996, when the California Legislature and Gover ...
system was originally to be co-located with the existing station. However, an alternate alignment with a new station further north was adopted in 2014. Greyhound Lines moved into Bakersfield station in late 2021, after pulling out of its 60-year-old bus depot in downtown Bakersfield. Greyhound said that the facility was too large for their needs and the property it stood on had been sold in July 2020. Greyhound added two new bus bays west of the Amtrak Thruway bus bays, a covered outdoor waiting area with storage, and a ticket office inside the city-owned station building.


Station services

Bakersfield's Amtrak station is a staffed station with a large, enclosed waiting room. Inside, there is both a staffed ticket window and Amtrak's self-service Quik-Trak ticket kiosk. There is seating, a payphone, restrooms, and vending machines. The station also offers checked baggage and
Amtrak Express Amtrak Express is Amtrak's freight and shipping service. It handles small package express service, heavy freight shipments and city-to-city freight shipping by private and commercial customers. Boxes up to 36" x 36" x 36" (maximum 50 pounds), sui ...
package service. Taxi stands are located to the west and a passenger pick-up and drop-off zone is located directly north of the station building. A free, unattended parking lot is available for passengers. The station has two tracks and two platforms (one
side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...
, and one
island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...
) accessible by passengers. Each platform can hold a six-car train. A third track provides for overnight storage and is not used by passengers. There is also a 15 bay bus station located north of the tracks. The bus bays and one platform is sheltered. Of the California stations served by Amtrak, Bakersfield was the fifth busiest in Fiscal Year 2018 (behind only
Los Angeles Union Station Los Angeles Union Station is the main railway station in Los Angeles, California, and the largest railroad passenger terminal in the Western United States. It opened in May 1939 as the Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal, replacing La Grande S ...
,
Sacramento Valley , photo =Sacramento Riverfront.jpg , photo_caption= Sacramento , map_image=Map california central valley.jpg , map_caption= The Central Valley of California , location = California, United States , coordinates = , boundaries = Sierra Nevada (ea ...
,
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...
and
Emeryville Emeryville may refer to: * Emeryville, California Emeryville is a city located in northwest Alameda County, California, in the United States. It lies in a corridor between the cities of Berkeley and Oakland, with a border on the shore of San ...
), boarding or detraining a total of 442,023 passengers. It is also the 25th busiest Amtrak station nationwide, and one of the busiest serving a metro area with fewer than 2 million people.


Bus connections


Amtrak Thruway

Bakersfield is the transfer point between San Joaquin trains and Amtrak Thruway buses connecting to Southern California destinations. As many as 6 thruway motorcoaches can connect to a single train. The buses are necessary in part because passenger trains are normally not allowed on the
Tehachapi Loop The Tehachapi Loop is a long spiral, or helix, on the Union Pacific Railroad Mojave Subdivision through Tehachapi Pass, of the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, south-central California. The line connects Bakersfield and the San Joaquin V ...
, the only direct rail link between the San Joaquin Valley and the urban core of Southern California.


Greyhound Lines

Greyhound Lines Greyhound Lines, Inc. (commonly known as simply Greyhound) operates the largest intercity bus service in North America, including Greyhound Mexico. It also operates charter bus services, Amtrak Thruway services, commuter bus services, and pac ...
service moved here in 2022 after its longtime station on 18th Street closed. They operate out of two bus bays west of the Amtrak Thruway bus bays. Greyhound also has a covered outdoor waiting area and a ticket office inside the station building.


Kern Transit

Kern Transit is the regional transit provider for
Kern County Kern County is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 909,235. Its county seat is Bakersfield. Kern County comprises the Bakersfield, California, Metropolitan statistical area. The county sp ...
. The station is one of two major hubs used within Bakersfield (the other is the Downtown Transit Center primarily used by
Golden Empire Transit Golden Empire Transit is the operator of mass transportation in Bakersfield, California. There are 16 routes serving Greater Bakersfield, which includes both the City of Bakersfield and adjacent unincorporated communities. Since 2005, nearly the ...
). Currently five bus routes connect with half of the train routes. They travel to various locations throughout the county, including: Desert Communities, East San Joaquin Valley,
Kern River Valley The Kern River Valley is a valley and region of the Southern Sierra Nevada (U.S.), Sierra Nevada, in Kern County, California, Kern County, California. History The valley was inhabited for millennia by the indigenous Tübatulabal and Kawaiisu peo ...
, Mountain Communities, and West Kern. Outside of the county, Route 130 connects to
Santa Clarita station Santa Clarita station is a Metrolink train station in the city of Santa Clarita, California. It is served by Metrolink's Antelope Valley Line between Los Angeles Union Station and Lancaster station. Because the City of Santa Clarita has two o ...
and the
McBean Regional Transit Center McBean Regional Transit Center, also known by its acronym MRTC, is a transit center and bus station located at 24375 Valencia Boulevard in the Valencia area of Santa Clarita, California, near the intersection of Valencia Boulevard and McBean Par ...
.


References


External links

* {{City of Bakersfield Railway stations in Kern County, California Transportation in Bakersfield, California Public transportation in Kern County, California Buildings and structures in Bakersfield, California Railway stations in the United States opened in 2000 Amtrak stations in Kern County, California