Predecessors The
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad built the first segment of the line from
San Francisco to
San Jose between 1860 and 1864. The founders of the SF&SJ incorporated as the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was authorized by
Congress in 1866 to connect the line from San Jose south to
Needles, where it would meet the
Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. The
Southern Pacific Railroad had built to
Tres Pinos by 1873, however they abandoned efforts to continue the line to
Coalinga, instead choosing a more inland route from
Lathrop. By 1871, SP had completed a line south from San Jose through
Gilroy and
Pajaro, arriving at
Salinas in 1872 and
Soledad in 1873. By 1894, SP had extended the line south over the
Cuesta Pass from Templeton to
San Luis Obispo. The work continued south to
Guadalupe in 1895 and
Surf in 1896. '', at Auzerais Street in San Jose in April 1970 The first version of the Coast Line was completed by the
Southern Pacific Railroad on December31, 1900 when a train was run over the bridge at Cementerio, west of Goleta. Regular service did not begin immediately, pending
track ballast work on several miles of the new line. Passenger and freight traffic declined dramatically at the
Hueneme wharf in
Ventura County as they shifted to the railroad. A new straighter track was built between
Chatsworth and Burbank to coincide with the new route, and the original line through the
San Fernando Valley was designated as the
Burbank branch. In 1907, the
Bayshore Cutoff opened from
San Bruno to
San Francisco, relegating the original main line through the
Bernal Cut to branch status. In 1935 the new line around downtown San Jose opened and thereafter was the main line. In the golden era of passenger service, SP trains on the San Francisco leg of this route ran from the
Third and Townsend Depot in San Francisco to the
Union Station in Los Angeles. The Oakland–Los Angeles trains originated from the
16th Street Station in
Oakland.
Current lines The line has several subdivisions. Ownership is currently split into three segments: •
Caltrain (PCJPB) from
CP Lick (MP 51.6, south of Tamien yard) north to San Francisco •
Union Pacific Railroad (UP), which merged with
Southern Pacific (SP) in 1996, from CP Lick south to the north end of
Moorpark • Between CP Lick (MP 51.6) and CP Coast (MP 43.9), the Coast Line is owned by PCJPB. At CP Coast, north of
Santa Clara Transit Center, the UP Coast Subdivision resumes and branches from the Peninsula Corridor, traveling north/northeast to CP Newark (MP 31.0), where it joins with the
Niles Subdivision. •
Metrolink south of Moorpark The Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board purchased the line on the
San Francisco Peninsula north of Tamien in 1991, and the line north of
Santa Clara is primarily used by passenger services. In 1992, Southern Pacific granted the
Los Angeles County Transportation Commission an option to purchase the entire Coast Line for passenger train operations at . Upgrades to signals and tracks to enable higher-speed operations were estimated to cost $360 million at the time. In the case of both purchases, SP retained freight
trackage rights along those lines which continue to be held by the company's successor, Union Pacific. == Services ==