Dos Rios light rail station opening date awaits California regulator

Sacramento’s finished Dos Rios light rail station cannot take Blue Line passengers until the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) accepts a testing verification report from Sacramento Regional Transit.

The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) marked the end of construction with a ribbon-cutting on September 10, 2026. It will name an official opening date only after the CPUC grants that approval. At the February 2025 groundbreaking, the agency said it expected the station to open before the end of 2026. It has not said when the regulator’s decision is due.

A finished stop waiting for CPUC acceptance

SacRT’s project page describes the regulator’s acceptance as the last required step before the station can safely open. After approval, SacRT will set the date and start preparing the stop for service. The stop sits on the Blue Line along North 12th Street, between Richards Boulevard and Sunbeam Avenue, in Sacramento’s River District.

How CPUC safety certification works for rail projects

The CPUC is the state safety oversight agency for rail transit in California. For major rail projects, its General Order 164-F requires a Safety Certification Verification Report, which the commission describes as the record showing that a project can safely open to riders. In the CPUC’s account of the LA Metro A Line extension to Pomona, which opened on September 19, 2025, that report covered more than 6,000 certifiable elements, from crossing gates to fire alarms. SacRT calls the document it is waiting on a testing verification report and has not matched that name to the commission’s term. Neither its project page nor its releases carry the report or a timescale for the review.

From a reversed board vote to a completed station

The station took two decades to reach this point. SacRT lists a station alternatives analysis in 2006, preliminary design in 2014–2015 and a design chosen through community outreach in 2018. In December 2018 the project and a linked affordable housing development won a $23 million Transformative Climate Communities grant from the California Strategic Growth Council. On January 8, 2024, the SacRT board reversed a November 13, 2023 vote on the project by 11 votes to 1 and told the general manager to allocate capital funds for construction. Work started in November 2024.

SacRT counts $42.8 million in state and federal money for the project, $31.2 million of it from state programs and $11.6 million from federal sources. The money pays for the station, safer access routes and surrounding redevelopment, not only the platforms.

Dos Rios station milestones

The station went from a 2006 study to finished construction in September 2026; CPUC acceptance is the remaining step before SacRT sets an opening date.

Sources: SacRT project page; SacRT board action summary for January 8, 2024; SacRT news releases of February 19, 2025 and September 10, 2026.

Mirasol Village and River District access

The stop faces Mirasol Village, the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency‘s rebuild of the former Twin Rivers public housing site. Railway tracks, levees and rivers isolated the old estate, the agency says, leaving few road, transit or sidewalk links to nearby neighborhoods. Its plan calls for up to 500 homes, including one-for-one replacement of the 218 original public housing units.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty linked the stop to wider growth in the district:

“With the new stadium, hospital, and concert venue underway, the River District is growing fast and will drive major economic development.”

Street access has partly returned. Sproule Avenue reopened to all traffic on September 8, 2026. Ahern Street stays temporarily closed while the City of Sacramento and SacRT review safety at the intersection, and left turns from North 12th Street onto Ahern Street remain barred.