State funding secured to expand SMART trains up to Healdsburg

(BCN) — The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District was granted $81 million in state funding to extend passenger rail service to communities up through Healdsburg in northern Sonoma County, according to the rail line’s officials.

The funding is from two grant programs, the Solutions for Congested Corridors and Local Partnership Competitive Programs, and is being matched by $187.7 million in other secured federal, state, regional, and local funds, SMART said Friday.

The SCCP award includes an additional $6 million to acquire a zero-emission locomotive for the SMART railroad.

“Full steam ahead!” said state Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire, D-North Coast, in a statement released by SMART. “The momentum is real and the SMART Train keeps on chugging north and will soon be serving riders from one end of the North Bay to the other!”

With this award, SMART will serve the newly opened Windsor Station north through Healdsburg to the northern Healdsburg city limits.

“Northern Sonoma County is an important part of the Bay Area, and extending our rail and pathway to Healdsburg and the Alexander Valley will connect people to jobs and grow regional-tourism-supported industries,” said Chris Coursey, chair of the SMART Board of Directors.”

The project will be delivered by 2028, Coursey said.

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