In early 1877, the Central Pacific Railroad began construction of two lines meeting at Martinez. The Northern Railway subsidiary built along the coast from Oakland to Martinez, while the San Pablo-Tulare Railway Company followed an inland route from Martinez to Tracy. A passenger station and freight house were built in Martinez east of Ferry Street, along with an engine house and turntable. The first train from Oakland to Martinez ran on September 22, 1877, with regular scheduled service beginning the next January. In August 1878, the line was completed to Tracy, where it met the First Transcontinental Railroad. Transcontinental service was rerouted over the new route via Martinez on September 8, 1878. On December 6, 1879, the CPRR opened a new line from Benicia to Fairfield, where it connected with the California Pacific Railroad to Sacramento. A train ferry was operated between Benicia and Port Costa; Martinez was cut off from transcontinental service. The Southern Pacific Railroad leased the CPRR in 1885. On June 7, 1891, the SP opened its San Ramon Branch from Avon to San Ramon; it was later extended to Pleasanton. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway opened a line through the south part of Martinez in 1899, with a station at John Strentzel's fruit ranch. The station, later named Muir, was never heavily used for passenger service and was closed around the 1940s. On November 10, 1930, the SP opened the Benicia-Martinez Railroad Drawbridge east of Martinez, replacing the train ferry and adding Martinez to the Oakland–Sacramento mainline. Passenger service on the San Ramon Branch ended in 1931. The second story on the east end of the station was removed in 1942. Local service between Martinez and Tracy ended in the early 1950s, and between Oakland and Sacramento in 1962. However, Martinez remained a stop on long-distance trains including the Cascade, City of San Francisco, and San Joaquin Daylight. Amtrak took over most intercity passenger operations in the United States on May 1, 1971. Amtrak did not continue service to the San Joaquin Valley, but Martinez was served by the Seattle–San Diego Coast Daylight/Starlight and the Oakland–Chicago City of San Francisco. The Oakland–Bakersfield San Joaquin began service on March 5, 1974, with a stop at Martinez. The station was renovated in 1983. The San Jose–Sacramento Capitols began on December 12, 1991. As service increased on the new route, the old Martinez station was inadequate for the increased ridership. In 1994, the city acquired a former rail yard site west of Ferry Street. The first phase of the station project – construction of the parking lot, replacement of the Alhambra Creek railroad bridge, and addition of two tracks through the station – was completed in 1997. The new $31 million station opened on September 22, 2001. The city acquired the vacated old station that year; it was used as a temporary library building, and may be converted into a museum. In 2008, the city acquired an industrial parcel north of the tracks to serve as an additional parking lot. The city originally planned to construct a bridge over the tracks to the new lot and the shoreline park areas, as Ferry Street is frequently blocked by trains, but it proved too costly to construct. The city decided in 2013 to build a less-expensive bridge across Alhambra Creek, linking the lot to Berrellesa Street. That bridge opened in 2016. In 2018, the city began construction on the final part of the station project: a footbridge connecting the station building to the new lot. The span was lifted into place in January 2019.
Bus connections
Martinez is served by Amtrak Thruway Motorcoach buses which serve the North Coast region along the Highway 101 corridor. The station is also served by several local bus systems:
