Railfans better get involved if there are concerns. SMART is asserting rights over track
it owns, on which only freight trains are currently expected to operate. Full document is available as attachment to the Real Estate Committee agenda.

From a memo to be discussed at their Real Estate Subcommittee this week is
the following statement:


Analysis The SMART project involves the restoration of passenger rail service between Cloverdale in Sonoma County and Larkspur in Marin County. The SMART District, however, owns many more miles of railroad right-of-way outside this project corridor. SMART has received numerous inquiries about these “other” rights-of-way, some related to the evaluation or promotion of future passenger rail services and others related to a desire to use of the rightsofway for other purposes. SMART does not have plans for implementing passenger service on these rights-of-way. However, over the very long term, there may be a local or regional desire and ability to expand the North Bay’s passenger rail system and link it to other parts of the Bay Area and beyond. As the steward of these local


Port Sonoma:

Along SMART’s right-of-way, between the Highway 101 corridor and Schellville, is Port Sonoma. The port is on the Petaluma River just north of its mouth on San Pablo Bay, where Highway 37 crosses the river. Although there are currently very few amenities at Port Sonoma, it could develop into an important transit hub in the future. Port Sonoma has plans to run ferry service to the San Francisco Ferry Terminal or AT&T Park. By connecting this ferry service with SMART’s right-of-way, Napa, Sonoma and Marin County residents would be better connected to San Francisco.

Sonoma Valley:

At the “Ignacio Wye” next to the Hwy 101/37 interchange, a stretch of railroad right-of-way branches off to the east, generally following the Hwy 37/121 corridor. This rail corridor turns north in the Sonoma Valley and links to Schellville, an area just 4 miles south of the City of Sonoma. And, while SMART does not own it, another railroad right-of-way extends to the north linking Schellville directly with the City of Sonoma. Given the presence of these rights-of-way, in the future it may be possible to run passenger rail services directly from the Sonoma Valley to Marin County and/or the SMART (Hwy 101) corridor in Sonoma County. A right-of-way Preservation Policy would aim to preserve that possibility.

Napa Valley

The branch of right-of-way that heads parallel to Highway 121 continues past Schellville in the Sonoma Valley. It runs farther east still, connecting to the Lombard area at the southern end of the Napa Valley near Napa Junction. At Napa Junction another railroad right-of-way (not owned by SMART) connects northward to the Town of Napa. This corridor, used by the Napa Valley Wine Train service, runs north though the Napa Valley to St. Helena. It is conceivable that in the future, passenger rail service could link the Napa Valley with the Sonoma Valley, Marin County and the SMART (Hwy 101) corridor in Sonoma County, so long as the right-of-way is protected and preserved.

Link to Union Pacific Main Line:

West of Napa Junction, the SMART right-of-way not only links to a Napa Valley rail corridor to the north, but through the Union Pacific Railroad branch line in the American Canyon east it also connects to the Union Pacific Main Line at Suisun to the east and south. From Suisun this line runs all the way from San Jose to Sacramento and beyond. As a result, Marin and Sonoma Counties are connected by rail to Solano County, Davis and Sacramento, along with Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland and San Jose in the other direction. At present, the Capitol Corridor passenger rail service runs trains along this line. In the future it may be possible for passenger rail services, using this SMART owned right-of-way, to link Marin and Sonoma Counties with the wider Bay Area, and other parts of California and the U.S.

Petaluma P&SR Line:

In addition to the SMART Project corridor, Corte Madera section, and branch to Napa Junction, SMART owns another section of right-of-way: a portion of the old Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad (P&SR), which runs through downtown Petaluma via Water and First Streets to just north of Park Siding at Mile Post 39.8 near the third crossing of the Petaluma River in Northern Petaluma. Along this right-of-way, the tracks could be restored to accommodate a passenger trolley that would serve as a tourist attraction, as well as a functional connector between the new Copeland Street Bus Transit Mall, Petaluma SMART stations and Downtown attractions. Some local advocates have been busy working to implement this vision. Such a trolley project would not be implemented with SMART project funds. However, SMART supports this local effort.