Next stops for ACE train plans: Salida and Sacramento

Two meetings this month will explore plans to extend the Altamont Corridor Express to Modesto and later Merced.

The Salida Municipal Advisory Council will hear Tuesday evening about the planning for the project, which got $400 million in state funding in the spring. And ACE is one of several passenger rail systems to be discussed at an Aug. 30 hearing in Sacramento.

ACE has run since 1998 between Stockton and San Jose by way of Manteca, Tracy and other stops. It had four westbound trains each weekday morning and return trips in the late afternoon and evening.

The extension to Modesto could happen as early as 2019 and include stops in Ripon and a second Manteca site. The rest of the extension could follow a few years later, with stops in Ceres, Turlock, either Livingston or Atwater, and Merced.

The Salida council will hear about the draft environnmental impact report for the project. It will meet at 7 p.m. at the Nick W. Blom Salida Regional Library, 4835 Sisk Road, Salida.

The Aug. 30 hearing will be before the Assembly Select Committee on Rail, chaired by Assemblyman Adam Gray, D-Merced. He helped secure gas-tax money that will pay for part of a $1.2 billion package of ACE improvements, including the current route.

The hearing also will touch on expansion plans for the Amtrak trains connecting the San Joaquin Valley with Sacramento and the Bay Area. It will be at 2:30 p.m. in Room 4202 at the State Capitol.

The public has until Aug. 31 to comment on the ACE expansion EIR. More information is at www.acerail.com.

This story was originally published August 20, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Next stops for ACE train plans: Salida and Sacramento."