History
San Diego Northern Railway (SDNR) purchased the tracks used by COASTER from the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1994. NCTD created the subsidiary San Diego Northern Railway Corporation in 1994 and dissolved it in 2002. Revenue COASTER service began February 27, 1995. Funding for right-of-way acquisition and construction costs came from TransNet, a 1987 measure that imposed a 0.5% sales tax on San Diego County residents for transportation projects. NCTD originally contracted Amtrak to provide personnel for COASTER trains. On July 1, 2006, TransitAmerica took over the day-to-day operation of the commuter train, based on a five-year, $45 million contract with SDNR. TransitAmerica is a subsidiary of Missouri-based Herzog Transit Services.
The COASTER carried 700,000 passengers during its first year of operation. By 2004, it was carrying 1.4 million passengers annually. Approximately 40% of weekday commuters detrain at Sorrento Valley. NCTD owns 62 mi (100 km) of mainline track, including the 41.1 mi (66.1 km) on which the COASTER travels.
NCTD maintains two rail yards. One is shared with the San Diego Trolley at 12th and Imperial in Centre City San Diego. It is used to store train-sets during the midday. The other, located north of Oceanside at Stuart Mesa on Camp Pendleton, is shared with Metrolink. This is where the main maintenance facility is located.
Consumption of alcoholic beverages is allowed on board the COASTER during certain hours for riders who are of the legal drinking age.
Read more about this topic: Coaster (San Diego)
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“No one can understand Paris and its history who does not understand that its fierceness is the balance and justification of its frivolity. It is called a city of pleasure; but it may also very specially be called a city of pain. The crown of roses is also a crown of thorns. Its people are too prone to hurt others, but quite ready also to hurt themselves. They are martyrs for religion, they are martyrs for irreligion; they are even martyrs for immorality.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)
“Properly speaking, history is nothing but the crimes and misfortunes of the human race.”
—Pierre Bayle (1647–1706)
“Only the history of free peoples is worth our attention; the history of men under a despotism is merely a collection of anecdotes.”
—Sébastien-Roch Nicolas De Chamfort (1741–1794)