Transportation in Kern County, California - Intercity Rail

Intercity Rail

Kern County is served by Union Pacific and BNSF; both are class-1 railroads. Both railroads parallel each other north of Bakersfield through the San Joaquin Valley. Within the county, Union Pacific follows SR 99, while BNSF follows SR 43. The distance between the two railroads average about 16 miles. South of Bakersfield, both railroads must use the route over the Tehachapi Mountains. This route is owned by Union Pacific, but BNSF has trackage rights over it. This segment is the busiest single line route in the world.

Regional service is provided by the San Joaquin Valley Railroad, which was purchased by Rail America. It provides service between Bakersfield and agricultural centers of Arvin, Buttonwillow, and Lamont. At one time, a railroad line connected Bakersfield and the oil rich City of Taft, known as the Sunset Railway. However, the construction of oil pipelines and equipment being hauled by trucks resulted in the removal of the route.

Passenger service is provided exclusively by the San Joaquin Route, run by Amtrak California. North of Bakersfield the train uses the BNSF route through the valley. The line terminates in Bakersfield, where passengers transfer to one of five Amtrak Thruway bus routes. They travel to, among other places, the Central Coast, Los Angeles Basin (with connections to other trains at Union Station), Mojave Desert, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Palm Springs, California. High level of demand through the Tehachapi Pass has prevented any rail service from extending south of Bakersfield.

Kern County is located on the proposed California High Speed Rail. This proposes to link Los Angeles with San Francisco and Sacramento by a high speed train. Bakersfield is the location of the station within Kern County, and will serve the southern San Joaquin Valley region. The desert communities in eastern Kern County will be served by the Palmdale station, in San Bernardino County.