Train Routes

The Ventura County Railway Company, LLC (VCY) owns railway lines used for among other things the transport of port customers’ goods to and from the harbor facilities and other private facilities to the main line railway in downtown Oxnard. In 2003 the Oxnard Harbor District acquired 100% of the membership of the Railway LLC. The Ventura County Railway traces its history and construction back to January 1902 when the Bakersfield and Ventura Railway was formed in Fillmore, California. The railway proposed building a track from the Southern Pacific Railroad’s “Brownstone Spur” in Fillmore, along Grand Avenue to Sespe Canyon’s entrance at Devil’s Gate near Bakersfield. Building a route from Oxnard (Ventura County) for the 84 miles to Bakersfield would be a significant feat across very mountainous terrain. Plans were put into play but little progress was actually made. When the railway finally opened for traffic on July 4, 1905 at Port Hueneme, the railroad only reached Oxnard. Finally in 1911 it was clear the railway would never reach Bakersfield. The Bakersfield & Ventura Railway dropped “Bakersfield” from its name and was renamed the Ventura County Railway.

The Ventura County Railroad (VCRR) is a subsidiary short-line railroad that is part of Genesee & Wyoming Inc., which began operating on the Ventura County Railway in 2011. For much of its first century, Genesee & Wyoming was a 14-mile railroad serving a single customer in upstate New York. The company has since grown to be a leading owner and operator of short line and regional freight railroads serving more than 3,000 customers over 13,000 miles of track in seven countries.

The VCRR currently extends for just over twelve miles on four branches and plays a significant role in the transport of freight and goods serving the industrial areas of south Oxnard, the Port of Hueneme, and Naval Base Ventura County Port Hueneme Division. It connects with the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Coast Main Line in downtown Oxnard. Both the UPRR and VCRR alignments have potential for adding passenger service as well as increasing freight use.