Written by Marybeth Luczak, Executive Editor
Northern California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) launches service to Windsor. Also, NC By Train celebrates 35 years of Carolinian and 30 years of Piedmont passenger rail service; and San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and North County Transit–San Diego Railroad (NCTD) mark a contactless fare-payment milestone.
SMART
SMART on May 31 officially began passenger rail service to its new Windsor station, as part of the Windsor Rail System Extension Project, a 3.1-mile extension from the northern terminus at Sonoma County, Airport Station to the town of Windsor. “This long-anticipated expansion marks a major milestone in SMART’s mission to provide sustainable, regional transportation for communities across Sonoma and Marin counties,” said the now 48.1-mile railroad, which also has stations in Santa Rosa, Rohnert Park, Cotati, Petaluma, Novato, San Rafael and Larkspur (see map, left). The Windsor station, located just steps from the Windsor Town Green at 464 Emily Rose Circle, is the railroad’s 14th station.
The $70 million project includes just over three miles of Class IV main line track; four bridges; one station with amenities; a 2.6-mile segment of the SMART Multiuse Pathway, part of the Great Redwood Trail, which once completed, will be a 307-mile multiuse path connecting California’s San Francisco and Humboldt bays; gauntlet tracks to accommodate freight train passage; and five at-grade crossings.
The opening of the Windsor station sets the stage for the next phase of SMART’s expansion, which will extend passenger rail service to Healdsburg, followed by Cloverdale, “in the coming years,” completing the original vision for the SMART system, according to the railroad…