Car-Free on the Capitol Corridor

It's 170 miles of passive commuting -- of not driving, of comfortable seats and of stellar views for anyone not surgically attached to their mobile. In a new report from Amtrak, the Capitol Corridor had a record month in July 2008, with a more than 30 percent growth in ridership over the previous July. That makes it the third busiest train route in the country.

The Capitol Corridor runs each day from Auburn and Sacramento in the north, to San Jose in the south. Between Martinez and San Jose, there are Bay Area stops in Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, Hayward, Fremont and Santa Clara -- with a few easy transfer points to BART and Caltrain.

This month, contributing writer Jeffrey Proske recounts his Amtrak commute from Sacramento to Berkeley in Riding the Rails From the Capitol to the Bay. If you've ever driven I-80 to Sacramento in a shoal of bumpers and brake lights, you'll weep at the poetic contrast of his halcyon journey by train.

The above article contains links to photos from various points along the Capitol Corridor route.

Note: Although the Capitol Corridor was running a trial of Opti-Fi for wireless connectivity, the trial has been eliminated and system-wide wifi is not yet available. See the Amtrak September 2008 wifi update for details on future implementation.

^{Photo © Ingrid Taylar}