Bakersfield (Amtrak Station) - History

History

Construction of the San Francisco and San Joaquin Valley Railroad reached Bakersfield in 1898, and was completed in 1899. However, they would not construct a train station in the city, because once completed, the railroad was purchased by Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe. It would also obtained trackage rights over Tehachapi Pass from the Southern Pacific Railroad. They constructed the Bakersfield Santa Fe Station in 1899, at the intersection of F Street and 15th Street.

The station occupied two blocks of land, between D Street and F Street. A Harvey House was located on the east side of the station. In 1901, the Bakersfield and Kern Electric Railway was relocated to serve the station. It provided a direct connection between the Bakersfield Santa Fe Station and the Bakersfield Southern Pacific Station (about 2.5 miles east in East Bakersfield). In 1938, Santa Fe began operating intermodal rail service on the San Joaquin Valley line. Trains would travel between Oakland and Bakersfield on the railroad line. At Bakersfield passengers would transfer to one of several bus routes, which departed for destination in Southern California. As a result, bus bays were constructed at the station.

Service continued until 1971, when Amtrak was formed. Since a rail route along the coast and in the San Joaquin Valley was considered redundant, the San Joaquin Valley route was dropped. In 1972, the train station was demolished by Santa Fe and replaced with freight offices and a parking lot.

However, train service restarted only two years later, in 1974. It was decided to use the intermodal route previously used by Santa Fe, instead of the Tehachapi route used by Southern Pacific. This would pose a problem for Bakersfield. The city would serve as the transfer point between rail and bus, but did not have any facilities for it.

A temporary structure was erected at the new parking lot (part of the previous site occupied by the station) east of the freight offices, to serve as the station. Buses would park wherever space was available. The station was served by only one track. As ridership increased, the station became ineffective at containing all of the passengers. Also, adding more bus routes forced them to park in an adjacent alley. In 1985, the temporary structure was doubled in size in an attempt to keep up with demand.

In the late 1990s, plans were started for the construction of a new, permanent train station. Land at the intersection of Truxtun Avenue and S Street was selected for the site. It would cost $5.1 million, funded by the State of California with Bakersfield as the lead agency. The station would officially open on July 4, 2000, with a demonstration train breaking through a ceremonial barrier. In attendance were the mayor, a state senator, and Amtrak officials. Country Music star Buck Owens (who lived in Bakersfield) performed at the event.