East Bay Electric Lines

East Bay Electric Lines
An East Bay Electric Lines train, 1911
Overview
Owner	Southern Pacific Railroad
Operation
Began operation	June 1, 1911
Ended operation	July 26, 1941
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification	Overhead line, 1,200 V DC

The East Bay Electric Lines were a unit of the Southern Pacific Railroad that operated electric interurban-type trains in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1][2][3] Beginning in 1862, the SP and its predecessors^[4] operated local steam-drawn ferry-train passenger service in the East Bay on an expanding system of lines, but in 1902 the Key System^[5][6] started a competing system of electric lines and ferries. The SP then drew up plans to expand and electrify its system of lines and this new service began in 1911. The trains served the cities of Berkeley, Albany, Emeryville, Oakland, Alameda, and San Leandro transporting commuters to and from the large Oakland Pier (the "mole") and SP Alameda Pier. A fleet of ferry boats ran between these piers and the docks of the Ferry Building on the San Francisco Embarcadero.

The East Bay Electric Lines became the Interurban Electric Railway (IER) in anticipation of the opening of the Bay Bridge Railway in January of 1939. This railway consisted of two tracks on the southern side of the lower deck of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, running from the East Bay to the San Francisco Transbay Terminal. SP IER transbay commuter train service ended in July 1941.