Sacramento RT Light Rail

• Blue Line: North Sacramento–Downtown–South Sacramento
• Gold Line: Downtown–East Sacramento–Rancho Cordova–Folsom
• Green Line: Downtown–River District

All routes operate every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes at night and on the weekend.[15]

CAF S/200 light rail vehicle at St. Rose of Lima Park station

The stations along the network are open-air structures featuring passenger canopies for protection from adverse weather. Twenty-six stations offer bus transfer services and 22 have park-and-ride lots with a total of 10,113 available parking spaces.[1]

The busiest stations in the system by average daily boardings/alightings are: 16th Street (6,800), University/65th (3,000), Cosumnes River College (2,900), and 29th Street (2,900).[15]

Works of public art included at several stations were developed as part of the RT Public Art Program, and represent an array of media including, mosaics, sculptures, metalwork and murals. Each was commissioned to incorporate an identity and sense of place unique to the neighborhood surrounding the station.[16]

The LRV fleet is composed of cars from two different builders: 36 from Siemens-Duewag U2A, some of which have been in use since the RT opened and 40 newer ones delivered in 2003 from Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles USA (CAF USA).

The fleet will be further augmented by at least 44 brand new Siemens S700 series low floor light rail vehicles starting in 2022 with plans to eventually acquire 76 units to replace the existing aging fleet as additional funding is secured.[17][18] 8 more trainsets were ordered in October 2023.[19]

RT previously operated 20 Urban Transportation Development Corporation (UTDC) ALRV cars. These LRVs were built between 1985 and 1987 for the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA). After being withdrawn from use by VTA, they were purchased by RT and refurbished by Siemens in 2015.[4][22] In RT service, they carried fleet numbers 301 through 320. They were withdrawn from use in 2022.

With the acquisition of low-floor Siemens vehicles, the system's station platforms are planned to be raised to eight inches (20 cm) above the top of the rail to allow a small bridge plate to be used to load passengers who require it.

The system's five stations constructed after 2006 were designed for low-floor vehicles and will not require modification. The Gold Line stations will be the first to have their platforms raised, followed by the Blue Line stations. SacRT plans to raise platforms in two phases, with half (two car lengths) of a platform (generally four car lengths) taken out of service during construction.[23]

Proposed extension

The Green Line extension to Sacramento International Airport will extend service 12 miles (19.3 km) to the airport via the Natomas neighborhood.[12][24] The line would extend northwest from the existing Green Line terminus at the 7th & Richards / Township 9 station. The plan to extend light rail to the airport has been in the works since early 1990s and is the project most requested by residents of the Sacramento region.[25] The agency has completed preparing the draft environmental impact report for the project.[26]

The project, estimated at nearly $1 billion, would be the costliest in RT's history and securing funding has been a challenge.[25] Transportation officials most recently proposed funding the project with a half-cent sales tax increase in Sacramento County, but the measure was narrowly defeated in November 2016.