The Orange Line is a

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART) line in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

that runs between

Berryessa/North San José station Berryessa/North San José station (also known as Berryessa station and Berryessa Transit Center) is an intermodal transit center located in the Berryessa district of San Jose, California, United States. The station is served by Bay Area Rapid ...

and Richmond station. It has 21 stations in San Jose,

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for or little cornfields) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, part of Silicon Valley and the broader San Francisco Bay Area. Located on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay, it is bordered by San Jose to the south, ...

, Fremont, Union City, Hayward,

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the south ...

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, El Cerrito, and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

. It is the only one of the five primary BART services that does not run through the

Transbay Tube The Transbay Tube is an underwater rail tunnel that carries Bay Area Rapid Transit's four transbay lines under San Francisco Bay between the cities of San Francisco and Oakland, California, Oakland in California. The tube is long, and attaches ...

to San Francisco; however, it shares tracks with the four other primary services in the East Bay.

History

The Orange Line was the first BART line to open. Initial services between

MacArthur MacArthur or Macarthur may refer to: Arts and media * INSS MacArthur, a fictional starship featured in the science fiction novel ''The Mote in God's Eye'' * ''MacArthur'' (1977 film), a movie biography of General of the Army Douglas MacArthur * ' ...

and Fremont stations began on September 11, 1972, with full service extending to

beginning on January 29, 1973. The line would not see any major changes for another 45 years, until the start of the

Silicon Valley BART extension The Silicon Valley BART extension (officially VTA's BART Silicon Valley Extension Program, commonly known as BART Silicon Valley) is an ongoing effort to expand the Green and Orange Line service by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) into Santa Clar ...

. The first phase of the project extended the line to

Warm Springs/South Fremont station Warm Springs/South Fremont station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) metro station, station located in the Warm Springs, Fremont, California, Warm Springs district of Fremont, California. The station is served by the Orange Line (BART), Orange ...

in March 2017, the second phase added Berryessa/North San José and

stations in June 2020.

Route

The Orange Line runs primarily north-south through the East Bay. It uses the R-Line between Richmond station and just north of MacArthur station, the

K-Line K-Line Electric Trains is a brand name of O gauge and S gauge model railway locomotives, rolling stock, and buildings. Formerly the brand name under which Chapel Hill, North Carolina–based MDK Inc. sold its products, K-Line was then acquired b ...

between MacArthur and the

Oakland Wye The Oakland Wye is an underground flying wye junction in downtown Oakland, California which serves the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Trains can switch between (a) the northbound Richmond or Antioch lines (first station: , underground), ...

, the A-Line between the Wye and

Fremont station Fremont station (also known as Fremont–Centerville station) is a train station located in the Centerville area of Fremont, California, United States. The station is served by Amtrak ''Capitol Corridor'' commuter rail/intercity rail service a ...

, and the S-Line between Fremont and

. Most sections are at-grade or elevated; the line runs through tunnels in downtown Berkeley, downtown Oakland, and under Lake Elizabeth.

Stations

References

{{Bay Area Rapid Transit Orange Line (BART) Railway lines opened in 1972 1972 establishments in California