Key System

The Key System Railway (or Key System Interurban) was a light-rail system that served the eastern San Francisco Bay Area from the 1900s until its removal in the late 1950s. It was the eastern counterpart to the San Francisco Municipal Railway or ?Muni? streetcar system. The Key System's original service area is now predominantly covered by BART and AC Transit diesel buses. Today, the vast majority of East Bay residents do not realize an extensive light rail system once existed in their communities.

History

The system was a consolidation of several smaller streetcar lines assembled in the early 1900s by Francis Marion ?Borax? Smith, an entrepreneur who made a fortune in his namesake mineral. At its height during the 1940s the Key System had over 66 miles of track that connected the communities of Richmond, Albany, Berkeley, Oakland, and San Leandro to San Francisco. On a map the routes looked roughly like an old-fashioned key, with three ?handle loops? that covered the East Bay cities and a ?shaft? that extended westward toward San Francisco; thus the anecdotal source of the system?s name.

Related Topics:
Francis Marion ?Borax? Smith - 1940s - Richmond - Albany - Berkeley - Oakland - San Leandro - San Francisco

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