The Gold Runner (formerly San Joaquins) is a state-supported passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of 2025, the service operates seven daily round trips between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton. Of these, five continue to Oakland and two to Sacramento. Two additional Sacramento-bound round trips are scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2025.
The service is notable for its extensive network of dedicated Amtrak Thruway bus routes, which are integral to its overall performance. More than 55% of riders use a Thruway bus for at least one segment of their journey. These routes are timed to connect with train arrivals and departures, and offer service to destinations across the state, including Southern California (notably Los Angeles Union Station, where passengers can transfer to the Pacific Surfliner or Amtrak's long-distance services), San Francisco, the Central Coast, the North Coast, the High Desert (including Las Vegas), Redding, Reno, and the Yosemite Valley.
With passengers in fiscal year 20—a change from the previous year—the Gold Runner ranked as Amtrak's seventh-busiest route nationwide and third-busiest in California.
Like other intercity rail services in California, the Gold Runner is managed by a joint powers authority: the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA). Its board includes two elected representatives from each of the eight counties served by the route. The SJJPA contracts the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission to oversee daily operations, Amtrak to operate the trains, and TransitAmerica Services for maintenance of locomotives and passenger cars. Caltrans funds the service and owns the rolling stock.
In 2025, the service was renamed from San Joaquins to Gold Runner to better represent the area serviced, which stretches beyond the San Joaquin Valley, and to match the whimsical names of other rail services in California. However, the Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight continued beyond Bakersfield, directly to Los Angeles via the Tehachapi and Newhall mountain passes; in 1958, the complete journey took just over twelve hours — six hours, fifty-four minutes between the railroad’s Oakland 16th Street and Bakersfield depots, and a further five hours, eight minutes to Los Angeles.
In April 1965, as ridership on passenger trains continued to drop, Santa Fe received permission from the Interstate Commerce Commission to severely curtail Golden Gate operations, and the service was entirely discontinued in 1968. The Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight was discontinued with the start-up of Amtrak in May 1971.
Amtrak era
Amtrak routed all Los Angeles-San Francisco service over the Southern Pacific's Coast Line in its initial 1971 route structure, leaving the San Joaquin Valley without service. In 1972, Amtrak began to revisit the decision at the urging of area congressmen, notably Bernice F. Sisk, who favored service from Barstow to either Oakland or Sacramento. The inaugural run occurred on March 5, 1974, and revenue service began the following day — with one daily round-trip between Bakersfield and Oakland, and bus connections from Bakersfield to Los Angeles, and Oakland to San Francisco. The San Joaquin could not continue south of Bakersfield due to capacity limits over the Tehachapi Loop, the only line between Bakersfield and points south and one of the world's busiest single-track freight rail lines. Amtrak chose the Santa Fe route over the Southern Pacific, citing the higher speed of the Santa Fe – versus – and freight congestion on the Southern Pacific. The decision was not without controversy, with Sisk alleging that the Southern Pacific lobbied the Nixon administration to influence the decision.
Madera station and Richmond station were added on October 30, 1977, along with a Stockton–Sacramento connecting bus. The schedule was changed on July 19, 1979, with an earlier northbound and later southbound departure, allowing single-day round trips to the Bay Area.
Caltrans era
thumb|Passengers in the lounge seating area in the café car of a San Joaquins train, 2014
In 1979 Amtrak proposed discontinuing the San Joaquin as part of system-wide reductions ordered by the Carter administration. The state of California stepped in to provide a yearly subsidy of (then) $700,000 ($ adjusted for inflation) to cover the train's operating losses, and it was retained. The state asked Amtrak to add a second round-trip between Oakland and Bakersfield and to extend the service south over the Tehachapi Pass to Los Angeles. Amtrak added the second train on February 4, 1980, but attempts to extend the train over the Tehachapi Loop failed due to Southern Pacific's opposition.
A third round trip was added on December 17, 1989. A fourth round trip was added on October 25, 1992. On May 16, 1999, Amtrak added a Sacramento–Bakersfield round trip - the fifth daily San Joaquins service round trip.
Transfer to local control
Expansion of the service would stagnate after 2002, and 10 years later, frustrated by what was perceived to be Caltrans' slow response to regional concerns, local leaders pushed lawmakers to allow local control of the San Joaquins service.
On September 29, 2012, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1779, which enabled regional government agencies to form the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority (SJJPA) to assume administration and management of the route, while the state of California would continue to fund operations. Under the joint powers authority model, the service would be governed by a board composed of eight elected officials, appointed by an agency in each of the counties the train travels through. The governance structure was modeled after the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority, which has been operating the Capitol Corridor regional train in Northern California since 1998. In that time, the SJJPA board contracted with the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission to provide day-to-day management of the service and contracted with Amtrak to continue to operate the service and maintain the rolling stock (locomotives and passenger cars). Control of the San Joaquins shifted from Caltrans to the SJJPA on July 1, 2015. The service began on May 7, 2018, but proved to be unpopular, with ridership counts showing an average of just 50 people on the train, compared to 130 with the old timetable. The "Morning Express Service" was eliminated one year later on May 6, 2019, and trains were reverted to their previous schedule.
Sacramento service was discontinued and one round-trip to Oakland was cancelled on March 25, 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The cancelled Oakland trip was restored on June 28, 2021, and one Sacramento round trip was restored on October 18, 2021. The second Sacramento round trip was restored on December 8, 2025, returning the Gold Runner to the pre-pandemic schedule.
Future
Near-term service adjustments
, the SJJPA is studying methods to reduce or eliminate crew expenses. The Authority aims to replace staffed café cars on the Gold Runner with more cost-effective alternatives; on May 5, 2025, all onboard food sales — including the sale of hot food and alcoholic drinks — were discontinued, and replaced with complimentary grab-and-go assortments of snacks and soft drinks. The change was billed as providing "equitable service across the board." The SJJPA is exploring a long-term solution of installing automated vending machines on all trains — similar to automat cars historically used on Southern Pacific's San Joaquin Daylight.
As well, Oakland to Bakersfield trips take just over six hours, which requires an expensive crew change in Merced; previously, the Authority investigated terminating some trains at Emeryville, skipping stops on some trains, increasing current speeds to , and/or operational improvements like decreasing dwell times, but these proposals were later removed from the Authority's Business Plan Updates, from 2023 onward.
Under their operating agreement with Amtrak, the SJJPA is provided the rights to use the service mark "Amtrak San Joaquins" from the railroad, free of charge; the Authority considers the service mark difficult for customers to spell, and believes it limits public understanding of the scope of the services provided by the Authority. and the service was rebranded in November 2025.
thumb|left|upright=1.5|[[Altamont Corridor Express, Capitol Corridor, and San Joaquins schematic route map, with Valley Rail project extensions. The Sacramento Extension project segment, connecting Stockton and Sacramento, uses the Sacramento Subdivision, which runs parallel to and west of the present route, which uses the Fresno Subdivision.]]
Two additional Sacramento round trips are planned to be added, routed over the Union Pacific Railroad Sacramento Subdivision north of Stockton and west of the present route, which uses the Fresno Subdivision north of Stockton. Unlike the 1999-initiated route, the Sacramento Subdivision has spare capacity to allow the increased service. Trains operating on the Sacramento Subdivision route will not serve the existing Sacramento Valley Station, but SacRT light rail connections and a shuttle bus to Sacramento International Airport are planned elsewhere. When the Natomas runs are initiated, one existing Oakland trip is planned to terminate at Stockton-Downtown, freeing a slot for a full Natomas to Bakersfield round-trip while continuing to provide five trips from the Bay Area. Upon completion of the high-speed rail initial operating segment, trains are expected to terminate at that system's new Merced station to act as a feeder to high-speed service. A new rail link is planned to connect the BNSF and Union Pacific lines, to allow Gold Runner trains to access the new station directly.
In 2024, the Butte County Association of Governments released a Strategic plan, named North Valley Rail to extend The San Joaquins service to Chico. Construction is expected to commence in 2029. The SJJPA is investigating a further extension to Redding.
The route is Amtrak's seventh-busiest service in the nation and the railroad's third-busiest in the state of California.
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Statistics
Annual ridership
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
|- style="font-size:95%; text-align:center"
! style="border-bottom:1px solid black" | * || style="border-bottom:1px solid black"| Ridership || style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" |
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! style="border-bottom:1px solid black" | * || style="border-bottom:1px solid black"| Ridership || style="border-bottom:1px solid black;" |
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! 2024
|
| 7.3%
!2015
|
|0.9%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2023
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| 19.3%
!2014
|
| 63.6%
!2013
|
|6.6%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2021
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| 28.5%
!2012
|
|7.2%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2020
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| 43.4%
!2011
|1,067,441
|9.2%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2019
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|5.2%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2018
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| 3.7%
!2009
|929,172
|2.2%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2017
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| 0.2%
!2008
|949,611
|18.0%
|- style="text-align:center;"
! 2016
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| 4.7%
!2007
|804,785 From 1987 to 1989 Amtrak used Superliner and ex-ATSF Hi-Level coaches. For a short period beginning on June 15, 1987, this included a full dining car on one of the trains. Amtrak reequipped the San Joaquins trains again in 1989, this time with new Horizon coaches, when service expanded to three daily round-trips. The San Joaquins began receiving Superliner-derived, bi-level California Cars in 1995. The bi-level fleet was supplemented by a fleet of single-level Comet Cars (refurbished NJ Transit cars) between 2013 and 2024.
The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission selected Herzog Transit Services for maintenance of cars and locomotives in 2025.
Locomotives
thumb|A San Joaquins train powered by a [[Siemens Charger (left) and Capitol Corridor powered by a F59PHI (right) at Emeryville station, June 2018]]
The Gold Runner and Capitol Corridor share a combined fleet of 13 EMD F59PHI and ten Siemens Charger SC-44 locomotives.
The Charger locomotives meet EPA Tier IV emission standards and are capable of operating at 125 mph in revenue service.
These locomotives are owned by Caltrans and carry its CDTX reporting marks. Amtrak-owned locomotives are also occasionally used on the Gold Runner, including the P42DC.
California and Surfliner Car bi-level trainsets
250px|thumbnail|A bi-level "California Car" trainset on the San Joaquins at station in 2012|alt=
The Gold Runner service is equipped with Amtrak California's fleet of California Car bi-level, high-capacity passenger cars owned by Caltrans. Each trainset typically consists of two coach cars, a coach/baggage car, a café (food service) car, and a cab/coach car. The cab/coach car is similar to other coaches but with an engineer's operating cab and headlights on one end, allowing the train to be operated in push-pull mode, which eliminates the need to turn the train at each end-point. Each California Car is named for a geographic feature of California — the coaches for rivers, the coach/baggage cars for bays, the cafés for valleys, and the cab/coach cars for mountains. Caltrans is in the process of refitting the cab/coach cars to have a space on the car's lower level for storage for checked luggage and bikes.
Caltrans also owns several second-generation Surfliner bi-level cars that are used on some Gold Runner trainsets. The newer cars look very similar to the California Car fleet, but feature reclining seats, open overhead luggage racks, and a restroom on the upper level of each car. There are several kinds of Surfliner Cars in service on Gold Runner trains: coach cars, cab/baggage/coach cars, and café cars. These follow a similar naming convention as the California Cars, with the Surfliner cafés named for California islands, the coach cars named for beaches, and the cab cars for peninsulas, or "points".
The bi-level fleet is pooled between the Gold Runner and Capitol Corridor routes. The cars have doors which can be operated remotely on either side of the train from a single point of control. This feature allows the operator to maximize passenger flow in boarding and alighting operations, and minimize station dwell time.
Caltrans had planned to use the Comet trainsets beginning July 2013, but their refurbishment took longer than expected. The first Comet trainset entered revenue service on October 21, 2013, and the second trainset followed on April 15, 2014. The Comet sets replaced two bi-level San Joaquins consists, and the California Cars from these trainsets were then added to the remaining San Joaquins bi-level trains, as well as several Capitol Corridor trains.
Caltrans plans to reassign the Comet cars to services in Southern California after delivery of the Siemens Venture cars is complete.
Siemens Venture single-level trainsets
alt=|thumb|A Siemens Venture test train
In November 2017, Caltrans announced that it would be ordering seven Siemens Venture trainsets through its contractor Sumitomo Corporation. The state had initially contracted Sumitomo, which in turn subcontracted with Nippon Sharyo, to build the Next Generation Bi-Level Passenger Rail Car, but a prototype car failed a buff strength test in August 2015. After the test failure, Sumitomo canceled its contract with Nippon Sharyo, and turned to Siemens to be the new subcontractor.
Unlike the bi-level equipment, the Venture cars will be used exclusively on the Gold Runner service. Caltrans has ordered 49 cars, forming seven total trainsets of seven cars each: five coaches, a café car, and one cab-control car with passenger seating and a compartment for checked baggage. The Venture consists are semi-permanently coupled trainsets, which allows for wider gangways between cars — thus providing mobility-impaired passengers access to the entire train. in conjunction with the mini-high platforms, Caltrans is designing a portable bridge plate to be carried aboard the cars. Additionally, the SJJPA has directed Siemens to procure electrically-operated car-borne wheelchair lifts, to replace the hand-cranked lifts currently utilized by each Gold Runner station. though Caltrans only began accepting deliveries of the new rolling stock in late 2022, and the first set entered service on December 21, 2023. As of 2025, four trainsets — each comprising six coach cars, and either one locomotive and one leased Amtrak NPCU, or two locomotives arranged top-and-tail — rotate through revenue service on the Gold Runner; contingent on the delivery of the cab-control cars, the SJJPA anticipates all seven trainsets to be available for revenue service by mid-2026. These NPCUs were painted in a striped blue-and-teal livery, reminiscent of a paint scheme formerly used by Caltrain, and each was named for the terminal stations on the San Joaquins route — Bakersfield, Oakland, and Sacramento.
Use of NPCUs allows for push-pull service on Gold Runner trains which do not utilize California or Surfliner bi-level equipment. Previously, the three Caltrans units were used in rotation across two Comet trainsets, but in June of 2024, two were moved to Southern California with seven Comet cars, for service on the Pacific Surfliner. As of 2025, Caltrans leases an additional fourth NPCU from Amtrak, to allow two units to remain in service on the San Joaquins trains which use Siemens Venture equipment.
Future Stadler zero-emission multiple-units
In September 2022, CalSTA ordered four zero-emission multiple-unit (ZEMU) hydrogen-powered trainsets from Stadler Rail, with delivery expected in early 2027.
References
Notes
External links
- Gold Runner website
- San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority website