Passenger Trains > SMART Windsor extension Grand Opening June 13, 2025

On Friday, June 13, 2025, at 1:45 p.m. there will be a Grand Opening celebration at the Windsor SMART (Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit) station to celebrate the opening of this new 3 mile extension from the North Santa Rosa Airport station to Windsor in Sonoma County, California. SMART will run 42 DMU's trains each weekday on this rail line using single track CTC and PTC operation with high-level stations at speeds up to 79 mph. Freight is still run on this line at night when the passenger trains are not run.  Interesting gauntlet tracks are used at the stations. This is another reopening of the ex-Northwestern Pacific Railroad to a suburb north of Santa Rosa. This event provides a special opportunity to ride to the new Windsor station. Attend the celebration by taking one of the train trips listed below: Arrival options: Northbound train 14, arriving Windsor at approximately 11:12 a.m., Northbound train 16, arriving at approximately 12:16 p.m., or Northbound train 18, arriving at approximately 1:35 p.m. Departure options: Southbound train 31, departing Windsor at approximately 3:20 p.m. or Southbound train 33, departing at approximately 3:52 p.m. Currently there is some funding to begin work on the further extension to Healdsburg CA.  Completion is planned for 2027. Final completion to Cloverdale is expected during the 2030's. Right now the Golden Gate Railroad Museum currently operates railbikes out of Cloverdale for those who would like to experience open air riding on this part of the line.
Proposed SMART schedule is on the link below:
https://www.sonomamarintrain.org/sites/default/files/Documents/PRINTABLE%20_Schedule_May_2025.pdf

Russian River railbikes information is as follows:
https://russianriverrailbikes.org/
 

Very neat. I was up there in late October and construction was still ongoing, pretty impressive it'll be fully operational by next month.

What's the current situation with the ROW north of there? From my understanding it seems like a contentious stretch of railroad. Talks about SMART pushing north to Healdsburg in the near term and further in the long term, NWP freight folks theoretically wanting to go to all the way to Ukiah/Willits, the former NCRRA trail people slowly but surely making progress on abandoning the ROW, the Cal Western people fighting what they see as an existential threat from the trail folks, and GCRM operating rail bikes over the section between all these interests. 

A quick reply to the post about SMART expansion - 
- Regarding continuing North to Healdsburg likely will happen as SMART owns the right of way and they have some of the funding already to do so. 
- Regarding going to Cloverdale, SMART already owns the right of way but no funding yet. Hopefully it will happen in the longer term. There is a nice depot in Cloverdale already.
- Slightly beyond Cloverdale, it is not Sonoma County and thus not SMART owned. It is Mendocino County through Ukiah to Willits.  The folks in Mendocino County want to tear it up for a bike trail and this has been contentious.

Great Redwood Trail (GRT) owns from mp 89.9 north to Alaska. (Eureka). A orgainization called "North Coast Rails and Trails". headed by Allan Hemphill, form Chairman of the Boaard of NCRA is spearheading a group to reopen Cloverdale to Willits for freight traffic.  GRT wants to take up the track a put a trail on it, or bury the mainline in ballast so hikers, bikers ands horses can use the new rtrail. SMART is not interested in this part of the legacy NWP but Mendocino Railways (Cal Western, the Skunk Line) IS.  They are in the process of restoring all 40 miles between Ft. Bragg and Willits on a $32 million loan from the Feds.  The ultimate goal is operated the line down to Cloverdale for passenger and feight service. Keep in mind, there is a prospect of reloads at Ft. Bragg and Willits, four lumber mills in Ukiah and two in Cloverdale. Congressman Jared Huffman supports efforts to reopen the line to reduce truck traffic on 101 but more importantly, reduce GHG and air pollutiion. Time will tell how all of this works out. Mike Pechner

Audacious date to start a new service!