Gold Runner
Intercity Rail · Amtrak for the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority
1 line · 18 stations · 9 interchanges
Every line drawn through its stations. Tap a line in the legend to hide or show it.
Lines
Service information checked . Check the operator before travel because schedules can change at short notice.
Quick facts
- Operator
- Amtrak operates Gold Runner for the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, with funding from California.
- Rail service
- Trains run north from Bakersfield through Fresno, Merced, and Modesto, then continue on separate branches toward Oakland or Sacramento.
- The two branches use different Stockton stations.
- Route data
- The ordered station list comes from the official Gold Runner GTFS feed published by SJJPA.
- Los Angeles connection
- The passenger railway ends at Bakersfield. Through journeys to Los Angeles use a coordinated Amtrak Thruway bus.
- The bus appears in booking results but is not drawn as a railway line.
Mike’s notes
Gold Runner is the current name for the former Amtrak San Joaquins service through California's Central Valley. Trains run between Bakersfield and the Stockton area through Hanford, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Turlock-Denair, and Modesto.
North of Modesto, the service separates. Oakland trains use Stockton San Joaquin Street before continuing through Antioch, Martinez, Richmond, and Emeryville. Sacramento trains use Stockton Cabral Station, then call at Lodi. The atlas shows these as two lines because joining the terminals into one sequence would create a railway that does not exist.
The Los Angeles segment is a bus
Bakersfield is the southern end of the passenger railway. Amtrak sells coordinated Thruway bus connections between Bakersfield and Southern California, including Los Angeles. A search result can therefore look like one continuous Amtrak journey even though passengers change between train and bus at Bakersfield.
The same distinction applies to many destinations beyond the 18 rail stations. Gold Runner's bus network reaches places that are not on the tracks shown here. Check the vehicle and transfer point on each segment before booking.
Tickets and disruptions
Tickets are sold through Amtrak and Gold Runner channels for a selected journey. The Oakland and Sacramento branches have different schedules, and track work can replace part of a train trip with a bus. Read current service alerts when the exact arrival time or a same-day connection matters.