Transportation

Southern Pacific Railroad

1878

The section of the Southern Pacific Railroad running along the East Bay shoreline was completed in 1878. While the Southern Pacific ran steam-powered commuter trains between Oakland and Berkeley, the tracks built along the shoreline were mainly used by transcontinental and Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley trains.

On the portion of the shoreline between Albany and the MacArthur Maze, the Souther Pacific Railroad runs next to the Eastshore Freeway (I-80/I-580). Between the MacArthur Maze and West Oakland, it runs along the Nimitz Freeway (I-880). The railroad also marks much of the path of the original shoreline. The marshy tidelands were filled in to allow the construction of the railroad.

Today, the Union Pacific Railroad runs freight trains along the original Southern Pacific route.

Map of West Oakland with original shoreline superimposed. You can see the original Southern Pacific tracks running along it (fainter than I-80/I-580, but roughly parallel to it):

Key System

1903-1960

Francis Marion "Borax" Smith consolidated many local electric streetcar lines into the Key System. It officially began operations in 1903. The Key System originated as streetcar lines bringing commuters from Oakland, Berkeley, and Piedmont to the company's pier that jutted three miles out of Oakland into the Bay, running ferries to San Francisco. The rail-to-ferry commute was the fastest way to travel to San Francisco before the construction of transbay infrastructure. According to Oakland Magazine, "In 1957 you could catch a train by the Alameda County Courthouse every half hour and be at the Transbay Terminal in San Francisco in 30 minutes, even during commute hours." The record year for this commute was 1930, when the rail-to-ferry service had 60 million passengers.

In the 1911 map below, the Oakland Traction Company and San Francisco, Oakland & San Jose lines that would later be consolidated into the Key System run parallel to the train tracks. In 1936, the Bay Bridge opened and the Key System's ferry service subsequently lost 3 million passengers. In 1939, a rail track opened on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. The Key System shared the track with Souther Pacific and Western Pacific, as well. The post-war car-ownership boom, however eventually spelled the demise of the Key System. In 1946, General Motors and Standard Oil of California bought a majority stake in the Key System through their holding company National City Lines. In a move that mirrored National City Lines' actions in major cities across the nation, Key System trains were replaced by busses that could drive the same roads as cars. In 1960, the Key System's operations were taken over by the newly formed AC Transit.

Eastshore Bike Trail

Below is an interactive map of the portion of the SF Bay Trail that runs along the Eastshore Freeway and beyond to West Oakland. It includes images of each stop along the way, marked with a pin.

The Eastshore Bike Trail is a section of the larger SF Bay Trail, an almost-completed plan to create a 500-mile pedestrian and bike path loop around the entire Bay Area, designed specifically for their use - open sight lines, wide (and generally green) shoulders and barriers separating the path from vehicle traffic. The project also restores natural habitats, has educational signs along the way, and is designed to withstand storm surges, occasional flooding, and other effects of sea level rise.