I grew up near the NWP in Marin County during the 1980s and never ever saw a train operate there south of Novato. Today, the right-of-way has been restored, and after many years of false starts and controversy, the SMART commuter train is in service. A connection to the SF ferry at Larkspur has just opened, but the future viability of this service is still an open question. Here, southbound DMU 113 is just out of the Civic Center station, speeding through a tree-lined neighborhood just blocks from where I went to nursery school.
Where once there was only one commuter carrier, Southern Pacific between San Jose and San Francisco, today there are three: Caltrain (former SP), Altamont Commuter Express, and the newest, SMART (Sonoma-Marin Rapid Transit).
