ACE will revive third train as pandemic eases. What’s up with Amtrak in Modesto area?
The Altamont Corridor Express soon will restore one of the trains suspended by COVID-19 a year ago.
The commuter service between Stockton and San Jose will have three weekday round trips starting May 3. The fourth could return by the end of this year, marketing manager David Lipari said by phone Wednesday.
ACE mainly carries commuters to jobs in the Livermore area and Silicon Valley. The two current trains head west from Stockton before dawn and return in the early evening. The restored third train will have a somewhat later schedule, departing at 6:40 a.m. and returning at 6:47 p.m.
Each trip takes just over two hours if it’s on time, often beating the commute on Interstates 205 and 580.
ACE has all the funding it needs to expand as far south as Ceres by 2023 and Merced by 2025. It also will branch north to Sacramento County by 2023.
Amtrak could add more trips, too
The pandemic also reduced service on the Amtrak San Joaquin line, which runs through Modesto. Four round trips now run each day between Bakersfield and Oakland, down from five in healthier times.
Amtrak also suspended the two round trips between Bakersfield and Sacramento. Riders bound for the capital must transfer to a bus in Stockton.
The fifth Bakersfield-Oakland train could return as soon as late June, said Lipari, who handles Amtrak as well as ACE. The direct trains to Sacramento could be back by fall or winter.
Ridership plunged as low as 5% on both ACE and Amtrak as the pandemic forced many commuters to work from home and other people to forego leisure travel. ACE is back to about 12% of normal and Amtrak to about 40%, Lipari said. Both have relied on pandemic relief money to survive.
They will continue to require passengers to wear masks and distance themselves on the coaches, which get regular sanitizing.
“Hopefully, if our community needs to utilize the services, they’re available in a very clean and comfortable way,” Lipari said.
Building back the passenger services will depend on passenger demand, progress against the virus, and coordination with freight railroads using the same tracks.
Grand plans for passenger rail
COVID-19 did not affect the funding or timeline for major upgrades to ACE and Amtrak. They have a total of $900.5 million from two state grants funded by fuel taxes paid by drivers.
ACE’s southern branch could have its first train by late 2022 or early 2023, serving downtown stations in Manteca, Ripon, Modesto and Ceres. It could add stations as early as 2025 in Turlock, Livingston or Atwater, and Merced — the subject of an environmental report released Thursday.
ACE’s northern branch could have its first train by late 2022. It will have one station west of Lodi and four in the Sacramento area.
These tracks also will carry two new trains for Amtrak providing direct service to the capital. The other two will continue to use a corridor to the east that has stops in the downtowns of Lodi and Sacramento.
The ACE and Amtrak upgrades aim to make rail much more frequent and reliable for both business and leisure travelers.
They will in turn feed into even grander plans: Their shared station in Merced would be part of the high-speed rail line that Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to complete from there to Bakersfield, operating perhaps by 2029.
The high-speed vision ultimately would link the Bay Area and Southern California, with a branch north through Modesto to Sacramento. It is mired in controversy over funding and other issues.
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 7:07 AM.
