San Francisco City Guide - Getting There By Rail

Amtrak (tel: 1 800 872 7245; website: www.amtrak.com) is the national railway provider, operating a regular and timely service. Two Amtrak terminals are situated across the Bay, in Oakland. The newer station is located in Jack London Square, 245 Second Street (tel: (510) 238 4322). A second station, situated at 5885 Landregan Street, Emeryville (tel: (510) 450 1081), is where most trains arrive and depart from. Emeryville has a bus service into San Francisco. Facilities include free unattended parking in the station parking lot and a newspaper stand. An Amtrak ticket and baggage centre is located at 101 The Embarcadero, Mission Street, Pier 2.

Rail services: The Coast Starlight travels north from Los Angeles to Seattle, with a stop in the Bay Area. The California Zephyr route travels from the Bay Area to Chicago. There is a daily service to Sacramento, San Joaquin Valley, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, Chicago, San Jose, Los Angeles (journey time – between 8 hours 30 minutes and 12 hours), Anaheim and San Diego (journey time – 12-14 hours). Trains also run to Ontario (journey time – 9-10 hours) and Las Vegas (journey time – 12 hours).

CalTrain (tel: 1 800 660 4287; website: www.caltrain.com), a regional train, serves Palo Alto, San Jose and many other small cities from the station at Fourth Street and King Street. These stop at 22nd Street and Pennsylvanian Street.

Transport to the city: A shuttle transports passengers between the two East Bay Amtrak stations and the Ferry Building and CalTrain station in San Francisco.