Gold Line (Sacramento RT)
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The Gold Line is a
light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...
transit line in the
Sacramento Regional Transit District The Sacramento Regional Transit District, commonly referred to as SacRT (or simply RT), is the agency responsible for public transportation in the Sacramento, California area. It was established on April 1, 1973, as a result of the acquisition ...
(SacRT) light rail system. Operating between
Sacramento Valley The Sacramento Valley is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies north of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the Sacramento River. It encompasses all or parts of ten Northern California ...
and Historic Folsom stations, the line runs primarily east-west in Sacramento (including
downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
, Midtown,
East Sacramento East Sacramento (also known as East Sac) is a neighborhood in Sacramento, California, United States, that is east of downtown and midtown. East Sacramento is bounded by U.S. Route 50 to the south, Business Loop 80 to the west and north, Elvas Av ...
), portions of unincorporated
Sacramento County Sacramento County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,585,055. Its county seat is Sacramento, which has been the state capital of California since 1854. Sacrament ...
,
Rancho Cordova Rancho Cordova is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. Incorporated in 2003, it is part of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area. The population was 79,332 at the 2020 census. In 2010 and 2019, Rancho Cordova received the All-Ame ...
, Gold River and
Folsom Folsom may refer to: People * Folsom (surname) Places in the United States * Folsom, Perry County, Alabama * Folsom, Randolph County, Alabama * Folsom, California * Folsom, Georgia * Folsom, Louisiana * Folsom, Missouri * Folsom, New Jers ...
. Segments of the Gold Line run along the system's original alignment between 16th Street and Butterfield stations, which opened for service in 1987. The line has run in its modern configuration since June 2005, with extensions completed since then to Folsom and the downtown
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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
station.


History

The first light rail line of the RT, which opened in 1987, was an route between Watt/I-80 station in North Sacramento, through downtown, and continuing east on Folsom Boulevard to Butterfield Way station. It was built at a cost of $176million
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...
($ adjusted for inflation), which included the cost of vehicles and maintenance and storage facilities. Much of the line, when it was first built, was single-tracked, though improvements over the 1990s allowed much of the original system to be double-tracked. The line was built mainly using the Sacramento Valley Railroad right-of-way, coupled with use of structures of an abandoned freeway project. A limited portion of the route runs on streets, mainly in downtown Sacramento. The line became more popular than anyone anticipated, necessitating further expansions and improvements. Two new stations at 39th and 48th streets opened in 1994, and a extension to the Mather Field/Mills station was completed in 1998. In June 2004, a further extension from Mather Field/Mills to Sunrise was opened. On September26, 2003, the South Line (now part of the Blue Line) opened for between the 16th Street station on the Watt/I-80-Downtown-Mather Field/Mills line and a station at Meadowview Road in the south end, which is the first phase of a planned longer line to Elk Grove. Much of the extension follows a railroad right-of-way. When it opened, 7 new stops were added to the system. In June 2005, following a reconfiguration of the light rail system, the Sunrise–Downtown Line was created (trains formerly continued beyond the downtown St.Rose of Lima Park station to Watt/I-80); it runs from St.Rose/K-Street to Sunrise with an extension to the Folsom area that opened on October15, 2005. It has since been redesignated in color as the Gold Line. On December8, 2006 it was extended even further to the downtown Amtrak depot (a.k.a. the Sacramento Valley Station), connecting the light rail system to the national rail system for the first time. Prior to 2025, headways were limited to 30 minutes between Sunrise and Historic Folsom stations due to single tracking on the east end between Parkshore Drive and Bidwell Street. Sac RT released a study in 2020 on the possibility of adding additional
passing siding A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...
s in the area to run twice as many trains in addition to reconfiguring station platforms for use with new low-floor rolling stock. The project to add a passing loop near Glenn station broke ground in 2023 and was completed in January 2025. While originally intended to run 15 minute headways at all Folsom area stations, , the line runs a modified schedule of three trips per hour between Sunrise and Historic Folsom stations with a mix of 15 and 30 minute headways, using new
Siemens S700 The Siemens S70 and its successor, the Siemens S700, are a series of articulated low-floor light-rail vehicles (LRV) and modern streetcars manufactured for the United States market by Siemens Mobility, a division of German conglomerate Siemen ...
low-floor rolling stock on the line. By 2025, a new
infill station An infill station (sometimes in-fill station) is a train station built on an existing passenger rail, rapid transit, or light rail line to address demand in a location between existing stations. Such stations take advantage of existing train ser ...
was planned at Horn Road.


Line description

The Gold Line begins at its western terminus in downtown at the Sacramento Valley station where it connects with
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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
. From there it travels on H Street in a single-track, then diverges into one-way tracks for 7th and 8th Streets where it joins the
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and Green Lines. It then turns westward on O Street, southward on 12th, then eastward in an alley paralleling Q and R Streets. After passing the 16th Street station, the Gold Line splits from the Blue Line (the Green Line terminates at 13th Street station), crossing over a bridge near
The Sacramento Bee ''The Sacramento Bee'' is a daily newspaper published in Sacramento, California, in the United States. Since its foundation in 1857, ''The Bee'' has become the largest newspaper in Sacramento, the fifth largest newspaper in California, and the 2 ...
headquarters, before continuing on R Street in Midtown. It continues in its own right-of-way in East Sacramento next to Highway 50, then crosses under Highway 50 and parallels Folsom Boulevard and the
Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
Placerville Branch Line, which is partly operational today, for most of its length. Its path was built mainly using the Sacramento Valley Railroad right-of-way. The Gold Line then reaches its eastern terminus at Historic Folsom station in Folsom, although some trains terminate at Sunrise station.


Station listing

The following table lists the current stations of the Gold Line, from west to east.


References


External links


RT Light Rail map
{{SacRT Sacramento Regional Transit District Transportation in Sacramento, California Public transportation in Sacramento County, California Passenger rail transportation in California Light rail in California Railway lines opened in 1987 1987 establishments in California