A train rolled into downtown San Rafael for the first time in more than 50 years Friday as SMART readies its rails for commuter service set to start later this year.
It was a wet arrival for the train at the station, which will serve as the southern terminus of the 43-mile rail route until an extension to Larkspur is completed as soon as 2018. To the north, the train will extend to the Santa Rosa Airport.
Before Friday, the last regular passenger train in downtown San Rafael made its final run on Nov. 11, 1958, with a special one-time excursion train last visiting in 1962, according to the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society.
San Rafael’s train tradition was re-born Friday, as two cars cruised into the station, horns blaring as people jockeyed for position to take photos and video.
“To stand on the platform and watch the crossing arms go down and to hear that whistle, I loved it,” said Ann Swanson of San Rafael. “I’m all for it. It’s exciting.”
A smiling Joy Gordon of Corte Madera was one of about 100 people who braved the rain to see the trains that pulled into the downtown platform just after noon.
“It looks good, the bathrooms are clean,” Gordon said. “I can’t wait to get on once service starts. I’ll ride it — if the price is right.”
SMART has not announced fares, other than to say that only Clipper cards will be accepted for fare payment and that passengers will pay to go from zone to zone instead of one flat fare. There will be a 50 percent discount for seniors 65 and older and youth ages 5 through 18, as well as those who have disabilities.
“I think the interior is beautiful, the (sea foam and kelly green) colors are beautiful and I like the layout,” said Johna Grim of Greenbrae. “It’s just gorgeous. It makes me think of Europe.”
Marin rail stops now include Larkspur, downtown San Rafael, the Marin Civic Center and stations in Novato at Hamilton and Atherton Avenue/San Marin Drive. When voters in Sonoma and Marin counties approved a quarter-cent sales tax in 2008 to fund SMART, the project was for train service from Cloverdale to Larkspur, along with a path for pedestrians and bicyclists.
But the downturn in the economy left the plan without full funding and the ability to borrow the needed money to complete all the work as promised, including the pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Now the project is being phased, with the San Rafael-to-Santa Rosa line pegged at $438 million.
In the 1970s, the Golden Gate Bridge district took control of the existing railroad right of way. It was turned over to SMART when the agency was established by the state Legislature in 2002. That meant SMART’s biggest asset was in hand — the rail right of way, valued at more than $1 billion.
Former San Rafael mayor Al Boro, who also served as Golden Gate Bridge board president, was on hand for the festivities Friday.
“It will be good for the city, good for the whole community and good for the North Bay,” Boro said. “It’s taken a long time, but it is here. These are beautiful trains.”
