The Altamont Corridor Express (also known as ACE, formerly Altamont Commuter Express) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs.[5] Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, and operations are contracted to Herzog Transit Services.[5] The 86-mile (138km) route includes ten stops, with travel time about 2 hours and 12 minutes end-to-end. In 2023, the line had a ridership of 576,300, or about 3,100 per weekday as of the third quarter of 2024. ACE uses Bombardier BiLevel Coaches, MPI F40PH-3C locomotives, and Siemens Charger locomotives.
Service began on October 19, 1998, with two weekday round trips. A third round trip was added in May 2001, followed by a fourth round trip in October 2012. Saturday service commenced in September 2019. As of 2018[update], average weekday ridership was 5,900.[6]
The tracks are owned by Union Pacific Railroad, previously built along the Western Pacific Railroad main line. Under the ACEforward program, a number of improvements to the service are being considered. These include a rerouted line through Tracy, an extension to Modesto and Merced, and connections to BART at Union City and Tri-Valley.
By the 1980s, three rapidly growing areas in California – Silicon Valley, the Tri-Valley, and the San Joaquin Valley – were poorly connected by public transit, as Interstate 580 and Interstate 680 became more congested. Commuting from the San Joaquin Valley or the Tri-Valley to Silicon Valley required using a car or limited bus service.
In 1989, the San Joaquin Council of Governments, Stockton Chamber of Commerce, and the Building Industry Association of the Delta started work on a 20-year transportation plan for the northern section of the San Joaquin Valley. In November 1990, San Joaquin County voters passed Measure K, a half-cent sales tax to fund a variety of transportation improvements.[7][8] The highest-priority project was the establishment of passenger rail service to San Jose.[3]
Former ACE logo, used until 2013
In 1995, San Joaquin County and seven cities along the route formed the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) to oversee the creation of the service.[3] In May 1997, the Altamont Commuter Express Joint Powers Authority (ACE JPA) was formed by the SJRRC, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA), and Alameda Congestion Management Agency (ACMA). That agreement formalized financial support, administrative processes, and governance for the rail service.[3] The operation is funded by a variety of state and federal sources, largely sales tax revenue collected by the three JPA signatories, while farebox revenues account for about one-third of costs.[9]
Cost sharing for capital projects, excluding stations, during the initial 36 months of service was determined by the JPA on a case-by-case basis and approved by each of the member agencies. The initial purchase of rolling stock, construction of stations, and other start-up costs, amounting to some $48 million, were covered primarily by Measure K funds. Station improvements are the responsibility of the county in which the station is located. ACE pays the Union Pacific Railroad about $1.5 million per year to use their tracks. ACE trains also use about 4 miles (6.4km) of Caltrain track in San Jose.[10] Service began on October 19, 1998, with two daily round trips running to San Jose in the morning and Stockton in the evening.[7]
Service expansion
ACE service to Santa Clara station began in 2001, was suspended in 2005, and returned in 2012.
The original service used two trainsets, each with four bilevel coach cars, for a total seated capacity of 1,120 passengers in each direction daily. In September 1999, less than a year after opening, the service reached 1,000 daily riders per direction, near full capacity.[11]
With that success, the agency wanted to add additional runs. To enable more trains on the line, ACE funded $3 million in track improvements,[12] but the limited amount of equipment allowed ACE to add only a morning "short turn" run between San Jose and Pleasanton. This "turn-back train" started service on February 21, 2000, and gave Pleasanton and Fremont a third inbound train to alleviate the crowding on the two earlier trains.[13] Even with the added capacity, by early 2001 ACE was regularly carrying more than 700 daily standees.[14]
ACE purchased additional equipment, allowing the "turn-back train" to operate to Lathrop/Manteca station, nearly the full length of the route, beginning on March 5, 2001; trains also began stopping at Santa Clara station.[15] Although the third train added 560 seats in each direction, it brought an immediate increase of 380 daily riders.
ACE then planned to add a fourth round trip later in the year, with fifth and sixth round trips by 2006.[14] However, by late 2001, the deepening dot-com recession was severely hurting ridership, and expansion plans were put on hold. On June 30, 2003, the ACE JPA was dissolved in favor of a Cooperative Services Agreement between the three member agencies.[3]
On January 6, 2003, ACE introduced the Stockton Solution Shuttle, allowing Stockton passengers to use the ACE trip which terminated at Lathrop/Manteca.[11] The trip was extended to Stockton on August 1, 2005. At that time, service to Santa Clara was suspended to allow for the construction of a second platform and pedestrian tunnel at the station.[16]
On August 28, 2006, ACE added a fourth round trip, which operated midday using one of the existing trainsets.[3] On November 7, 2006, San Joaquin County voters approved a 20-year extension of Measure K.[8] Suffering from reducing funding due to the Great Recession, ACE cut the lightly used midday trip on November 2, 2009.[11] On May 14, 2012, ACE restored service to Santa Clara station.[7][17] On October 1, 2012, a fourth rush-hour round trip was added, running approximately one hour after existing trips.[11]
Altamont Corridor Express
Car in new Altamont Corridor Express livery at Fremont station in July 2018
In December 2012, the service was rebranded from Altamont Commuter Express to Altamont Corridor Express to reflect plans for a broader scope of service.[18]
In March 2014, ACE opened a $65 million, 121,000-square-foot (11,200m2) maintenance facility in Stockton.[19] On July 1, 2015, management and governance of the San Joaquin passed from Caltrans to the new San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority.[20] The SJJPA has nominal control over the SJRRC, but delegates all responsibility over ACE to the SJRRC.
On March 7, 2016, an ACE train was derailed by a mudslide in Niles Canyon near Sunol. The front car plunged into the rain-swollen Alameda Creek. Fourteen passengers were injured, but there were no fatalities.[21][22]
ACE received Road Repair and Accountability Act funds in order to initiate Saturday service in January 2018,[23] with two Saturday round trips added in September 2019.
Diagram shows all alternatives; not all will be implemented[24][25][26]
In association with the California High-Speed Rail project, ACE has developed plans to upgrade and expand service. Beginning around 2008, initial plans called for the Altamont Corridor Rail Project to produce a high speed rail "Super ACE" capable of halving the travel time between the endpoints.[27]
As the high-speed rail project was scaled back and rerouted to Pacheco Pass several years later, these plans were replaced with the more modest ACEforward program. The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission issued a notice of intent to proceed with an Environmental Impact Statement in June 2013;[28] this was released in 2017 and prioritized goals as either long term or short term.[29] Short term goals included track improvements, a possible reroute through downtown Tracy including new stations, a West Tracy station, and a new extension to Modesto in addition to additional daily round trips. Long term goals included upgrades to the existing corridor to allow as many as 10 daily round trips, extension to Merced and electrification of the line from Stockton to San Jose.[29]
Also under studied were possible connections with BART at Union City or the Tri-Valley[30][31] via traditional ACE rail, diesel multiple units, or bus bridges.[32] This connection is planned to be facilitated by the Tri-Valley–San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.[33]
The California state senate allocated $400 million in revenue from a gas tax increase to ACEforward expansion.[29] By 2019, the plan had come to be called the Altamont Corridor Vision, with an expected price of $9.7 billion, allowing ACE to run up to six weekday round trips in 2023 with the goal of ten weekday round trips once additional track infrastructure is completed. ACE and the Tri-Valley–San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority sought funding to construct a shared tunnel under Altamont pass in order to speed service and increase reliability.[34]
Valley Rail
Schematic routemap, approximately to scale, with Merced and Sacramento extensions planned under Valley Rail project
However, during the development of ACEforward, significant financial and logistical challenges to expanding service on the existing route between Stockton and San Jose were identified, and further work on the project was halted in favor of a new Valley Rail project, focusing initially on the eastern expansion to serve commuters living in the Central Valley.[35]:1–1 ACE was awarded $500.5 million in April 2018 for expanded service to Ceres and Sacramento[36] to provide more rail service and connections within the Central Valley.[37][38] Service is expected to begin from Ceres by 2023[39] with interim bus bridge service to Merced until that segment of Union Pacific right-of-way is upgraded. Four trains will depart Ceres in the mornings, and one train may make the complete run to San Jose with others transferring passengers at North Lathrop.[40]
The Union Pacific right of way between Ceres and Lathrop will be double tracked to facilitate passenger service.[39]As of 2019[update] platforms are being extended to accommodate longer trains.[41]
Valley Rail also includes a project segment to route ACE and Amtrak San Joaquins along the little-used Sacramento Subdivision between Stockton and Sacramento. Six new stations would be constructed along the line with a layover facility at Natomas. Trains would run the length of the line from Natomas to San Jose or Ceres with a midday short turn to Stockton. A Draft Environmental Impact Statement was released in 2020, with services expected to begin no later than 2023.[42] The North Elk Grove station was eliminated from planning in September 2020.[43] The project received funding via California's Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program in 2023, by which time the project was expected to open in phases beginning in 2025.[44] Later that year, the estimated commencement of service to Ceres and Natomas were again pushed back to 2026, with service to Merced and infill stations opening by 2030.[45]
As of July 2019[update], ACE operated four round trips per weekday in the peak rush hour directions – westbound (to San Jose) in the morning and eastbound (to Stockton) in the evening. Trains were scheduled to make the 85-mile (137km) one-way trip in 2 hours 12 minutes, an average speed of 39 miles per hour (63km/h).[46]
From San Jose to just north of Santa Clara, ACE uses the Caltrain main line (Peninsula Subdivision), shared with Caltrain and Amtrak service. From Santa Clara to Stockton – the majority of the route – ACE runs on Union Pacific Railroad freight lines. From Santa Clara to Newark, ACE uses the Coast Subdivision, then the Niles Subdivision to Niles. From Niles to Lathrop, the line uses the Oakland Subdivision.[49][50] From Lathrop to Stockton, the line uses the Fresno Subdivision.
The route runs through Niles Canyon, parallel to the Niles Canyon Railway, Highway 84, and the Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct. The line passes through a 0.75-mile (1.21km) long tunnel which cuts off one of the canyon's horseshoes. This tunnel was modified from its original configuration to accommodate intermodal double-stack freight trains. However, this left the track in poor condition, reducing speeds from 45mph (72km/h) to 25mph (40km/h) in the summer and as low as 10mph (16km/h) during the rainy season. The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission plans to rehabilitate the tunnel.[51]
ACE fares are distance-based and available in one-way, round trip, 10 trip, 20 trip, and monthly passes. Unlike many of the other commuter rail services on the West Coast, ACE does not have ticket machines at stations. Passengers are encouraged to use the railroad's mobile ticketing app, but paper tickets can be purchased from agents at all stations except Vasco Road and the Santa Clara Transit Center. Also, unlike many other transit services in the Bay Area, ACE does not accept the Clipper Card.
Rolling stock
Charger locomotive at Santa Clara in 2021
ACE operates push-pull trains with one to two diesel locomotives and four to eight bilevel coach cars.[10] Trains typically operate with the locomotive(s) leading westbound and the cab car leading eastbound.
ACE has ordered 17 additional Bombardier BiLevel cars (5 cab cars and 12 coaches). Deliveries were expected to begin sometime in 2021. The entire fleet of Bombardier bilevel coach cars and MPI F40PH-3C locomotives will be rebuilt, overhauled, and repainted to have a matching paint. They will then continue to operate along with the newer Siemens Charger SC-44 locomotives, which entered service in 2020.[52]
Manteca is a city in San Joaquin County, California. The city had a population of 83,498 as of the 2020 Census. It is part of the Stockton-Lodi, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area.
The San Joaquins is a passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. Seven daily round trips run between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton, with onward service to Sacramento and Oakland. For Fiscal year 2025, two additional trips to Sacramento will be added.
City College station is an at-grade light rail station on the Blue Line of the SacRT light rail system operated by the Sacramento Regional Transit District. The station is located in an exclusive right of way alongside the Union Pacific Railroad's Sacramento Subdivision and a small rail yard, on the campus of Sacramento City College, after which the station is named, in the city of Sacramento, California.
Lathrop/Manteca station is a train station in southern Lathrop, California, served by Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) service. The station is located on rail tracks and a rail yard that is on land that was once a turkey farm. It is three miles (4.8 km) from Lathrop and one and a half miles (2.4 km) from Manteca to the east, a location chosen to draw commuters from both cities.
Robert J. Cabral Station, is a railway station in Stockton, California. In 2003, the station building was named in honor of the late Robert J. Cabral, a San Joaquin County supervisor instrumental in the creation of the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE), originally Altamont Commuter Express.
The Modesto Transportation Center is a bus terminal and former train station located in downtown Modesto, California.
Merced station is a proposed California High-Speed Rail station in Merced, California, located in Downtown Merced. The originally proposed site was to have been located at ground level on Martin Luther King Jr. Way near the interchange with Route 99/59, placing it about 7 blocks south from the existing Merced Amtrak station. The station was initially intended to be the northern terminus of the system's Initial Construction Segment. An alternative location for a fully elevated station proposed by the City of Merced and other stakeholders, 8 blocks to the west-northwest along 15th Street, between O Street and R Street was approved after a supplemental environmental review. The high-speed rail line will run on the south side of the Union Pacific Railroad right-of-way.
Valley Link is a proposed 26-mile-long (42 km) commuter rail service in Northern California, which seeks to connect the rapid transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system in the San Francisco Bay Area with the northern San Joaquin Valley via the Tri-Valley region. Since 1997, BART's Blue Line's eastern terminus is at Dublin/Pleasanton station on the border of Dublin and Pleasanton. Valley Link seeks to extend rail service east from here into the northern San Joaquin Valley over Altamont Pass, which would help alleviate traffic congestion and reduce greenhouse gas emissions on Interstate 580 (I-580). The project resulted from various failed proposals to extend the Blue Line east to Livermore.
Ceres station is a future Altamont Corridor Express rail station in the city of the same name. It was expected to open to revenue service in 2024 as the terminus of the first phase of ACE's Merced Extension project to Merced, but the opening was later pushed back to 2026. The station would be located between Railroad Avenue and CA 99 near the southbound Whitmore Avenue exit underpass; the platform would only accessible approaching from the east side of the tracks. A bus will connect to Merced at first, with rail service to follow in the future. Parking will be available on nearby surface streets.
Midtown Sacramento is a planned train station in the neighborhood of the same name that will be a stop on Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California's San Joaquin services. To be constructed as part of the Valley Rail project, it was expected to open no later than 2023. By 2023, the opening date had slipped to 2026. The platform will run between P Street and the wye at S Street and be bisected by Q Street. SacRT light rail stations are located either three blocks to the east or west.
The Manteca Transit Center is the primary public transit hub of Manteca, California. The bus station features five bus bays with Manteca Transit as the primary operator; the agency also maintain their offices at the facility. San Joaquin Regional Transit District and Altamont Corridor Express shuttle routes also serve the transit center. Modesto Area Express service began in July 2020. Altamont Corridor Express commuter rail service is expected to commence at a newly constructed platform along the Union Pacific rail line by 2026 as part of the Merced Extension project.
Ripon is a future Altamont Corridor Express station in the city of the same name. The platform will be located between the railway right of way and U.S. Highway 99, south of the Main Street interchange. Access to the platform will be via a pedestrian overcrossing southwest over the tracks to South Industrial Avenue. It was expected to open to revenue service in 2024 as a station along the first phase of ACE's Merced Extension project to Merced, but was later delayed to 2027.
North Lathrop station is a planned Altamont Corridor Express station in Lathrop, California – the second to be constructed in the city. It was expected to open to revenue service in 2023 as part of the first phase of ACE's Merced Extension project to Merced, but was later delayed to 2027.
Old North Sacramento is a planned train station that will be a stop on Altamont Corridor Express and Amtrak California's San Joaquin services. The station is located near the intersection of El Monte Avenue and Acoma Street. To be constructed as part of the Valley Rail project, it is expected to open by 2029. The SacRT light rail Globe station is located nearby to the east.
Turlock station is a future Altamont Corridor Express station in the city of the same name. It is expected to open to revenue service in 2029 as part of the second phase of ACE's Merced Extension project to Merced. The station would be located at the intersection of Golden State Boulevard and Front Street approximately a mile from downtown. The platform is planned to be connected to the Turlock Transit Roger K. Fall Transit Center via an elevated pedestrian bridge. The station would be across a street or two from the city's Greyhound Lines bus stop.
Elk Grove station is a planned train station in Elk Grove, California to be located north of Laguna Boulevard at 3134 Dwight Road. it is part of the Valley Rail Sacramento Extension Project between Stockton and Sacramento. It will be served by Amtrak California San Joaquins and Altamont Corridor Express trains.
Livingston station is a future Altamont Corridor Express station in Livingston, California. It is expected to open to revenue service in 2030 as part of the second phase of ACE's Merced Extension project to Merced. The station is located on Main Street. Turlock was selected over Atwater as a stop due to the distance between adjacent stations potentially resulting in fewer bottlenecks for freight trains.
The Fresno Subdivision is a railroad in California owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Mostly built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, the line traverses the San Joaquin Valley on a northwest to southeast alignment.
Valley Rail is a project to expand Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and Amtrak California San Joaquins commuter rail services, divided into several segments which include two service extensions from Stockton to Sacramento and Merced, station improvements, and grade separation of the Stockton Diamond.
1 2 Solomon, Brian (2013). North American Railroad Family Trees: An Infographic History of the Industry's Mergers and Evolution. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press. p.127. ISBN978-0-7603-4488-0.
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