East Shore and Suburban Railway

{{short description|Former streetcar system around Richmond, California}}

{{use mdy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox Public transit

| box_width = 280px

| name = East Shore and Suburban Railway

| image = Macdonald Avenue streetcar 1907 postcard.jpg

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| caption = A streetcar on Macdonald Avenue

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| owner = Key System (1912–1933)

| area served =

| locale = East Bay

| transit_type = Streetcar

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| began_operation = July 28, 1904

| ended_operation = November 1948

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The East Shore and Suburban Railway (E&SR) was a formerly independent unit of the historic San Francisco Bay Area Key System which ran streetcar trains in Richmond, California, San Pablo, and El Cerrito. There were several lines with terminals at Point Richmond, North Richmond, the county line with Alameda County (a transfer point), what is now San Pablo, and Grand Canyon/East Richmond/Alvarado Park. Service to Oakland required a transfer to Oakland Traction Company trains at the County Line station and service to San Francisco required an additional transfer in Oakland. The systems were later consolidated into the Key System.

Image:Richmondunderpass.jpg track on Macdonald Avenue.]]

The system's initial line was built between Point Richmond and the Southern Pacific depot and opened on July{{nbsp}}28, 1904.{{cite news |title=Busy Point Richmond |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-enquirer-busy-point-richmond/160457181/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |newspaper=Oakland Enquirer |via=Newspapers.com |date=July 29, 1904 |location=Oakland, California |page=7}} {{free access}} The extension to the Alameda County line opened on April{{nbsp}}29, 1905,{{cite news |title=Richmond car are running |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-berkeley-gazette-richmond-car-are-ru/160456980/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |newspaper=The Berkeley Gazette |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 2, 1905 |location=Berkeley, California |page=3}} {{free access}} though the streetcar tracks did not directly cross the Southern Pacific main line. This forced riders to cross the tracks on foot and transfer to another car to make the complete trip. This setup would persist until April 1909 when an underpass was installed to take Macdonald Avenue under the tracks and connect the two sections of the line.{{cite news |title=Railroad fence no longer exists |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-call-and-post-railroad/160478015/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |newspaper=The San Francisco Call |via=Newspapers.com |date=May 19, 1909 |location=San Francisco, California |page=9}} {{free access}} The Stege branch opened in July 1905.{{cite news |title=The service on the Stege branch... |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-the-service-on-the-stege/160457427/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |via=Newspapers.com |date=July 17, 1905 |location=Oakland, California |page=3}} {{free access}} The East Shore and Suburban was merged into the San Francisco-Oakland Terminal Railways Company along with the Key System and Oakland Traction Company in 1912, consolidating most streetcar operations in the East Bay.{{cite news |title=Trolley merger to reach San Jose and Sacramento |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/stanislaus-county-weekly-news-trolley-me/160476696/ |access-date=7 December 2024 |newspaper=Stanislaus County Weekly News |via=Newspapers.com |date=April 5, 1912 |location=Modesto, California |page=7}} {{free access}}

Service began to be replaced by buses on August{{nbsp}}1, 1932, with the conversion of the East Richmond/23rd Street line. Lines were converted to buses one at a time with the last remaining line being in November 1933.{{cite news |title=Bus Service To Richmond Will Start Tomorrow |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-bus-service-to-richmond/139070041/ |access-date=19 January 2024 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |date=November 6, 1933 |location=Oakland, California |page=15 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}}{{cite news |title=Motor Bus Schedules In Richmond Protested |access-date=19 January 2024 |newspaper=Oakland Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/oakland-tribune-motor-bus-schedules-in-r/139069648/ |date=November 7, 1933 |location=Oakland, California |page=16 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} Fares were originally 5 cents and were raised to 7 cents {{USDCY|0.07|1933}} over time at the time of the last runs.{{cite web| url=http://elcerritowire.com/history/pages/railchron.pdf| format=PDF| title=Chronology of the East Shore and Suburban Railway| publisher=El Cerrito Historical Society| access-date=2007-09-07| url-status=usurped| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200642/http://elcerritowire.com/history/pages/railchron.pdf| archive-date=2007-09-27}}