Carquinez Crossing

Richmond to Benicia

The longest slow section on the current route of the Capitols and other state passenger service in the Bay Area is between Richmond and Benicia. Often the most congested section of freeway in the Bay Area is I-80 between the Carquinez and Bay Bridges. BART has expanded over the years in every direstion, EXCEPT north from Richmond along the I-80 Corridor.

Goal:

Increase operating speeds between Richmond and Benicia and eliminate delays caused by ship traffic at the existing drawbridge.

Solution:

Build a new passenger-only railway north from Richmond, tunneling from the Richmond Parkway to Hilltop and then following I-80 to Hercules, with stations at Hilltop and Hercules. Thence into a new tunnel that would cross beneath the Carquinez Strait before surfacing at a new Benicia station. A tunneled junction allows services to Martinez for San Joaquin line trains.

The current rail line follows the shoreline of the bay for most of the distance between Richmond and Benicia. This results in reduced speeds with few easy opportunities for any increase. The railway crosses the Carquinez Strait on a lift bridge that is will be 100 years old in 2030. As maritime traffic trumps rail traffic, shipping causes random delays to all passing trains, freight and passenger.

While extensions of BART have been studied north from Richmond, nothing has come of them. The BART line ends near downtown Richmond, while I-80 runs up in the hills. No obvious corridor connects the two.

The alignment presented in the map above ignores piecemeal solutions for minimal improvements, such as some curve-straightening along the waterline and moving freight service off the existing century-old lift span. Instead, it proposes an entirely new passenger alignment from north of the Richmond station to a new Benicia station near Lake Herman Road. The line would curve up from the existing tracks near the Richmond Parkway and pass into a tunnel to climb to the area of the Hilltop Mall. Reaching the I-80 corridor, it would emerge on the east side of the freeway to follow it to Hercules, where it would swing along SR-4 on a high aerial structure before entering a tunnel just east of the Phillips 66 Carbon Plant. Within the twin bores of the crossing tunnel, a junction would allow trains to connect with the existing line just west of the Martinez station. The tunnel would pass under the Carquinez Strait east of the existing bridges and emerge just east of Bayshore Road adjacent to the existing tracks and auto delivery facility.

Current travel time between Richmond and Suisun-Fairfield for the Capitols is 45 minutes. Highway travel time with no traffic is 30 minutes. With a new alignment, making stops at Hilltop, Hercules, and Benicia, rail travel time would be 29 minutes. Non-stop expresses would take 23 minutes.