Amtrak restores pre-pandemic service from Valley to Bay Area. What about Sacramento?
Amtrak has restored a fifth daily round trip between Oakland and Bakersfield by way of Modesto.
Monday’s restart came about 15 months after COVID-19 forced the cutback on the Amtrak San Joaquin trains.
Amtrak also suspended the two round trips between Bakersfield and Sacramento. Passengers headed for the capital still must transfer to a bus in Stockton, but that could change in the fall.
The Bakersfield-Oakland route has stops in Modesto, Denair and 11 other locales in between.
The newly restored northbound train departs Bakersfield at 2:12 p.m. and arrives in Oakland at 8:31 p.m. Its southbound counterpart leaves Oakland at 11:36 a.m. and pulls into Bakersfield at 5:57 p.m.
Passengers must continue to wear masks as part of Amtrak’s safeguards against COVID-19. But they once again can buy food and drink on the trains, which had been suspended.
“We are excited to be welcoming back our riders and helping Californians reconnect to the places and people they want to visit,” said David Lipari, marketing manager for the route, in a news release. “This increase in service will improve connectivity for the summer travel season.”
Lipari said at least one of the Sacramento trains could be restored in the fall. The branch has stops in the downtowns of Stockton, Lodi and Sacramento.
ACE remains at three trains
The pandemic also reduced service on the Altamont Corridor Express, which serves mainly commuters between Stockton and San Jose.
A third weekday round trip returned in early May. The fourth could be back in September, said Lipari, who also handles marketing for this service.
ACE has full funding for an extension to Ceres as soon as 2023 and Merced by 2025, along with the Sacramento area by 2023. This is part of a $900 million effort that also will increase Amtrak trains to Sacramento.
ACE and Amtrak in turn could feed into the high-speed rail system that could be operating between Merced and Bakersfield by 2029. This project faces yet another round of criticism over cost overruns and delays.
This story was originally published June 29, 2021 at 11:36 AM.
