San Rafael Meets its New Train

2:25 PM PST on March 11, 2016

Rail returns to San Rafael for first time in a half century. Photo: SMART. — Rail returns to San Rafael for the first time in a half century. Photo: SMART.

In a previous post, Streetsblog got caught up on the Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) project. A week later Marin County transit fans got a treat, with the arrival of the first Diesel Multiple Unit train at the new San Rafael station. The public got to board the train and have a look around.

"We are incredibly excited to welcome SMART to downtown San Rafael," said Mayor Gary Phillips in a prepared statement.

San Rafael is part of the first phase of SMART, which will run 43 miles to Santa Rosa. It's scheduled to begin service by the end of the year. Larkspur will come online after that. Ultimately, the train line, when fully built out, will stretch 70 miles from Cloverdale to Larkspur.

According to SMART, the last regular passenger service in downtown San Rafael made its final run in November of 1958. We're sure residents of Sonoma and Marin county will be happy to finally have a comfortable alternative to the area's notorious traffic jams.

Interior of the new Diesel Multiple Unit sets. Photo: SMART rail — Interior of the new Diesel Multiple Unit sets. Photo: SMART.

Roger Rudick

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