Amtrak (tel: 1 800 872 7245; website: www.amtrak.com) is the national railway provider, operating a regular and timely service. Two Amtrak terminals are situated across the Bay, in Oakland. The newer station is located in Jack London Square, 245 Second Street (tel: (510) 238 4322). A second station, situated at 5885 Horton Street, Emeryville (tel: (510) 450 1081), is where most trains arrive and depart from. Emeryville has a bus service into San Francisco. Facilities include free unattended parking in the station car park and a newspaper stand. An Amtrak ticket and baggage centre is located at 101 The Embarcadero at Mission Street, Pier 2.

Rail services: The Coast Starlight travels north from Los Angeles to Seattle, with a stop in the Bay Area (journey time - 12 hours to Los Angeles and 23 hours to Seattle). The California Zephyr route travels from the Bay Area to Chicago via Reno, Salt Lake City and Denver (journey time to Chicago - 56 hours).

CalTrain (tel: 1 800 660 4287; website: www.caltrain.com), a regional train, serves Palo Alto, San Jose and many other small cities from the station at Fourth Street and King Street. These stop at 22nd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

Transport to the city: A shuttle transports passengers between the two East Bay Amtrak stations and the Ferry Building and CalTrain station in San Francisco.