Opened on 25 August 2017, the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (known as the SMART train) revives the joy and convenience of rail travel in the North Bay. It initially operates between San Rafael and Sonoma County Airport north of Santa Rosa; when fully built, it will operate between Larkspur Ferry and Cloverdale in far north Sonoma County, providing a quicker way for commuters and tourists to travel up and down the US-101 corridor. Once the Larkspur connection is built, Larkspur Ferry Station will become a new intermodal hub as it is the station where continuing passengers to and from San Francisco can take the Golden Gate Ferry.
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Train Exterior and Design
There are eighteen train car consists, numbered 101 to 118, These were built by Nippon Sharyo in 2014 through 2015, originally from Japan and built in Sacramento. These trains can be configured as either two-car (back to back) or three-car (two trains back to back, one extra facing north or southbound) train consists, allowing flexibility in passenger capacity up to 480 passengers.
Interiors and Cab Views
The trains are capable of carrying 158 seated passengers and up to 320 seating and standing passengers in a 2-car configuration (480 in a 3-car configuration). In addition, up to eight bikes per train can be carried, and each train unit has an indoor bar, toilet, WiFi, AC power plugs on every row, foldable tables, and four wheelchair-accessible spaces.
Note: odd-numbered cars (e.g. 101, 103, etc.) have toilets on board, while even-numbered cars (e.g. 102, 104, etc.) have an on-board bar that sells snacks, drinks, and alcohol.
Note: odd-numbered cars (e.g. 101, 103, etc.) have toilets on board, while even-numbered cars (e.g. 102, 104, etc.) have an on-board bar that sells snacks, drinks, and alcohol.