Turlock commuter train extension gets another $57 million. When will cars start rolling?
The state has kicked in another $57 million to help the Altamont Corridor Express reach Turlock.
Train service would start there by 2027 under the latest timeline for expanding the line, which now runs on weekdays between Stockton and San Jose.
Turlock is part of a southern branch that will start with stations by 2024 in Manteca, Ripon, Modesto and Ceres. The branch will have stops as well in Livingston and Merced by 2029. ACE also is expanding north, with stations serving Lodi, Elk Grove and four Sacramento locations by 2024.
Previous funding totaled about $1.3 billion. It includes expansion of Amtrak service between Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley, sharing ACE’s northern tracks.
The $57 million, announced July 7, came from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The planners hope to tap other sources to cover the total $164 million cost of the Turlock leg.
The grant went to the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, which oversees both ACE and the Amtrak San Joaquin service.
“The local communities are excited to be connected to the statewide rail network and have access to a variety of economic opportunities,” Executive Director Stacey Mortensen said in a news release.
Serving commuters since 1998
ACE launched in 1998 as an alternative for Valley residents driving to Bay Area jobs. It stops along the way at the Lathrop/Manteca border and in Tracy, Livermore, Pleasanton, Fremont and Santa Clara. Four trains head west between 4:10 and 7:32 a.m. each weekday and arrive back in Stockton between 5:49 and 8:50 p.m.
The expansion would follow this rough timetable to start, but the planners hope for future funding that allows all-day service both ways. ACE also could better connect to BART and other rail systems. And both ACE and Amtrak could feed into the high-speed rail segment planned by 2030 between Merced and Bakersfield, if that costly project can survive efforts to divert funding elsewhere.
The state grant program aims to reduce road congestion through enhanced rail, bus and ferry service. It is funded by fuel taxes on drivers and payments from industries that emit climate-changing gases.
The southern ACE expansion will be along the Union Pacific Railroad corridor from Lathrop to Merced. Second tracks will be laid where needed to reduce conflict with freight trains.
The latest grant will help meet a shortfall resulting from both general inflation and a closer look at the project design, marketing manager David Lipari said by phone Monday.
The planners hope to hear by fall on a pair of grant applications for the remaining $107 million needed for the Turlock leg. One is to the state Trade Corridor Enhancement Program. The other is to the federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America program.
The timeline had called for a 2025 start for ACE service to Turlock, Livingston and Merced. The plan now is to launch Turlock by 2027 and the rest by 2029, in time for the high-speed segment.
Turlock might move its depot
ACE’s approved plans call for downtown stations everywhere but Turlock, where the depot is planned a mile north of the city core near Fulkerth Road. Local officials are discussing moving it to the south end of downtown, along mostly vacant land with potential for redevelopment.
ACE’s governing board has said it is OK with the change if Turlock covers the $100,000 cost of revising the environmental impact report. The City Council had been scheduled to discuss this June 28, but the matter has been postponed to an unknown date.
Amtrak has five round trips daily between Bakersfield and Oakland by way of Modesto, Denair and several other Valley cities. A sixth train branches north to Sacramento, while another capital trip remains suspended by COVID-19.
The upcoming expansion will provide a total of four Amtrak trips to Sacramento.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 12:49 PM.
