Happy 20th Birthday to Bakersfield's Amtrak Station

It was 20 years ago today that Bakersfield’s current Amtrak station officially opened.

July 4, 2020--On July 4, 2000, the new Bakersfield station at 601 Truxtun Avenue was dedicated with a grand opening celebration that included a performance by Buck Owens, attracting more than 2,000 guests.

According to Amtrak,

"The contemporary $5.1 million station was funded by the state of California, and was one piece of a complex, coordinated construction project that included placing a portion of an irrigation canal into an underground pipe and building an underpass beneath the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) tracks in order to improve downtown traffic flow. The state requested that the city of Bakersfield lead the project, and additional input was sought from the Kern Council of Governments, Caltrans, BNSF, and Amtrak."

The station replaced a smaller, modular building next to the BNSF station at 15th and “F” streets that had served as Bakersfield’s Amtrak station since 1974. The new Bakersfield Amtrak station, owned by the city of Bakersfield, was designed by Rossetti Associates Architects and has been the subject of numerous awards, including the American Public Works Association’s Public Works Project of the Year.

It serves as the southern terminus for Amtrak's San Joaquins route, connecting Bakersfield to the San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento and many points in the Central Valley with multiple arrivals and departures daily. The station also provides Amtrak Thruway bus connections to numerous southern California locations and Las Vegas. It has become one of the most recognizable buildings in Bakersfield.

Visit Bakersfield sends happy 20th birthday wishes to our neighbor across the parking lot, the Bakersfield Amtrak station.

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You can read more about the grand opening celebration from 20 years ago today, and view many photos from that event, here.

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