New Downtown Sacramento streetcar could break ground by this fall

The Abridged version:

• After decades in the works, the downtown riverfront streetcar project is poised to break ground later this year.
• The streetcar would provide a connection between Downtown Sacramento and Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento.
• The 1.8-mile route is shorter than initial plans for the streetcar. Leaders hope to expand it in the future.

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A long-awaited streetcar connection between West Sacramento and Downtown Sacramento is on the cusp of reality.

Sacramento Regional Transit’s downtown riverfront streetcar is nearing its final administrative steps, according to the agency. The new route is poised to add a new segment of light rail tracks and three new stations between West Sacramento’s riverfront, the Golden 1 Center and Amtrak’s Sacramento Valley station.

Public comment for the project has been open since Dec. 15, 2025 and will close on Feb. 12. After the public comment period, the project does not face any additional approvals or hurdles, according to spokesperson Jessica Gonzalez.

The project could break ground later this year, she said. All $164.3 million needed for the project has been secured, between local funding from both cities, state grants and federal transportation dollars.

SacRT estimates the new streetcar could be operational by 2029.

Route connects baseball stadium to downtown Amtrak station

Sacramento and West Sacramento have had their eyes on building a streetcar since at least 2006, when the two cities signed an agreement to begin a feasibility study.

The planned route would add a new stretch of light rail tracks between Sutter Health Park in West Sacramento, cross the Tower Bridge and then traverse down N street.

From there the route would connect with pre-existing light rail tracks near N and 7th streets, travel past the Golden 1 Center and end at Amtrak’s Sacramento Valley Station.

The new route will have a single-car train travelling along it, Gonzalez said.

The route is trimmed down from initial plans approved in 2015. At that time, SacRT proposed 3.3 miles of new track that would have stretched further down Riverfront Street in West Sacramento near the current location of Drake’s: The Barn. On the west side, the streetcar would have ended in a loop near 15th and L Streets.

Local leaders are hoping the new span of track could act as a foundation for more light rail extensions in the future.

“That’s the ultimate goal,” Gonzalez said. “West Sacramento is interested in expanding it further (to) connect West Sacramento more regionally.”

Felicia Alvarez is a reporter at Abridged covering accountability. She’s called Sacramento home since 2015 and has reported on government, health care and breaking news topics for both local and national news outlets.