Sacramento Valley station

Sacramento Valley Station
Company type	Train station
Industry	Transportation
Founded	1926
Headquarters	Sacramento, California, United States
Products	Passenger rail services, Amtrak Thruway bus services, SacRT light rail services

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article Sacramento Valley station, available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 7 August 2025

Sacramento Valley Station is an Amtrak train station situated at 401 I Street in Sacramento, California. Constructed in 1926 on the site formerly known as China Slough, it stands as the thirteenth most frequented Amtrak station across the United States and ranks second in the Western region. This station accommodates four Amtrak lines and offers connections to Amtrak Thruway bus services. Furthermore, it serves as the western endpoint for the Gold Line within the SacRT light rail network and provides access to Route 30 bus service heading to California State University, Sacramento.

Amtrak

Four distinct Amtrak routes operate through Sacramento: two long-distance daily services and two corridor routes under Amtrak California, which collectively provide 38 trains on weekdays and 30 on weekends.

The California Zephyr and Coast Starlight each run one train daily in both directions.

The San Joaquins offers a single daily round trip traveling from Bakersfield through Modesto and Stockton to Sacramento. Passengers can transfer via Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach to five additional daily round trips that terminate in Oakland.

The Capitol Corridor delivers 15 round trips on weekdays and 11 on weekends; Sacramento is generally the eastern terminus except for one daily round trip extending to Auburn.

In fiscal year 2017, Sacramento was ranked as the second busiest Amtrak station in California with approximately 2,941 passengers daily, placing it seventh nationwide.

Amtrak Thruway

As of , Amtrak provides Amtrak Thruway bus connections on three routes serving Sacramento Valley Station:

Route 3: northbound service to via , southbound service to Stockton
Route 20: eastbound service to /Sparks via
Route 20C: eastbound service to South Lake Tahoe, operated by El Dorado Transit

Certain buses make a drop-off stop at the State Capitol (), although southbound travelers connecting with San Joaquins at Stockton do not use this stop.

RT Light Rail

The Sacramento Valley Station acts as the western terminus for the Gold Line, which is part of the SacRT light rail system. The facility includes one side platform serving a single-track branch line, accompanied by a two-track layover yard just west of the platform.

The SacRT intends to move the light rail station from its current location behind the Main Station Building on H Street to a new alignment perpendicular along 5th Street.

Local and commuter bus

Directly serving the station are Sacramento RT bus routes 30 and 38, while numerous other RT routes conclude within a few blocks of downtown. El Dorado Transit's Sacramento/South Lake Tahoe (SAC/SLT) commuter bus route—which also operates as Amtrak Thruway route 20—stops at this station. Additionally, commuter services provided by Amador Transit, Roseville Transit, Yolobus, and Yuba-Sutter Transit all have routes terminating in downtown Sacramento.

Upcoming services

Sacramento is designated as the northern endpoint for Phase II of the California High-Speed Rail initiative. Greyhound Lines currently operates its Sacramento terminal approximately one mile north, near the 7th & Richards / Township 9 RT Light Rail stop; nevertheless, ongoing station upgrades may incorporate bus bays at Sacramento Valley Station to support Greyhound operations in Phase III. Additionally, the Shasta Regional Transit Agency has put forward plans for a weekday commuter bus service connecting Redding and Red Bluff to Sacramento Valley Station.

Before 2006

The existing Sacramento station, crafted by Bliss and Faville for the Southern Pacific Railroad, was constructed in 1926 on the former site of China Slough and features Renaissance Revival architecture. Notable design elements include a terracotta-accented facade, large archways, and a red tile roof. Inside the waiting area, a mural by John A. MacQuarrie illustrates the 1863 groundbreaking of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Originally serving as the Central Pacific Railroad's terminal, ownership now resides with the City of Sacramento.

Following Amtrak's establishment in 1971, the station transitioned to exclusive Amtrak use and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 under the name "Southern Pacific Railroad Company's Sacramento Depot." Initially catering to long-distance routes such as the California Zephyr and later the Coast Starlight (starting in 1982), service expanded notably in 1991 with the introduction of the Capitols (currently known as Capitol Corridor), elevating it to become the second most frequented station in the Western United States after Los Angeles Union Station.

On December 8, 2006, the Sacramento Regional Transit Gold Line extended its tracks by half a mile to reach Sacramento Valley Station.

Renovation and Railyards development

The City of Sacramento is undertaking a phased renovation of Sacramento Valley Station as part of the broader Sacramento Railyards Project.

Phase I, known as Sacramento Valley Station Intermodal Phase I and completed on August 13, 2012, involved shifting all heavy-rail passenger platforms (Amtrak) approximately northward. The Gold Line light rail platforms remain positioned behind the station building.

Phase II concentrated on comprehensive structural and visual enhancements to the station itself, including seismic retrofitting, window replacements, accessibility upgrades, fire safety improvements, and interior refurbishments aimed at elevating passenger comfort. The Amtrak ticketing and baggage facilities were relocated from a 1960s annex to the former restaurant area within the North wing, improving customer service operations. This phase culminated with an official reopening ceremony on February 23, 2017.

Planned Phase III improvements encompass realigning light rail tracks into a downtown loop configuration, creating a new bus loop and terminal adjacent to existing platforms, and erecting an elevated pedestrian concourse connecting to the Railyards development north of the station. Additional proposals include developing new bicycle pathways, preparing sites for commercial and mixed-use residential projects near the historic depot, and potentially expanding the California State Railroad Museum into current parking areas. This phase is currently under environmental review with construction requests for proposals anticipated within five to ten years.

As renovations progress, city officials intend to gradually shift services away from the main Head House building. Ultimately, with completion of the California High-Speed Rail Project and establishment of a new Sacramento Intermodal Transportation Center on 5th Street linking to new platforms, all passenger operations will move out of the historic station structure, allowing it to be repurposed. The long-range plan also envisions incorporating the proposed Sacramento Streetcar system and constructing a light rail loop for continuous through-routing; however, as of May 2019, escalating costs have indefinitely delayed progress on the streetcar initiative.

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