The Ceres City Council last week approved the sending of a letter of support for the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission as it seeks to snag a grant from the Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP).
The grant would further along the building of rail that would ultimately bring the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) train service to Ceres.
Specifically it would enhance service that the Rail Commission is working to implement as part of the Valley Rail Program.
If granted, the money would fund the:
• Completion of the project to separate the north-south Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) mainline tracks from the two east-west Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) mainline tracks.
• Finish the South Stockton Yard Crossover, including multiple switches, crossovers, signaling equipment and systems, special track work, and other needed improvements to support the Stockton Diamond track construction.
• Converting of F40 locomotives from diesel to hydrogen hybrid propulsion to reduce emissions on the ACE and Valley Rail Corridors;
• Develop an integrated ticketing platform to seamlessly integrate ACE, San Joaquins, California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA), and other services into a unified platform.
• Provide funding for the Rail Academy of Central California (TRACC), led by SJRRC and Sacramento City College, a workforce training program that creates employment opportunities.
• Construct a new station in Madera County for California’s Interim High-Speed Rail (HSR) Service between Merced and Bakersfield.
• Complete service planning needed to implement and coordinate a network of bus and rail services providing connections to the SJRRC Valley Rail program in the San Joaquin Valley, which will enhance the benefits of the BRITE project.
Ceres City Manager Doug Dunford said the plan is to finish the ACE train platform in Ceres in 2026.
The Ceres platform is planned for west of Highway 99 near Whitmore Park. Measuring about 15 feet wide and 1,000 feet long – the center loaded platform will feature passenger amenities and safety features such as patron shelters with benches, map boxes, ticket validation machines, street lamps, guardrails, security equipment and emergency call box stations.
Parking for Ceres station passengers has become a sticking point. Original plans called for a concrete retaining wall to be constructed to shoulder the east side of the raised freeway to create 116 parking stalls along El Camino Avenue from Central Avenue to the southern point of Whitmore Park. According to City Engineer Kevin Waugh, Caltrans has rejected those plans, leaving few options for the city other than shave off part of Whitmore Park’s western section to create room for parking.
Plans call for pedestrians to access the train platform via a 12-foot-wide new pedestrian path crossing beneath the freeway.
ACE currently operates four westbound trains in the morning from Stockton to San Jose and four eastbound trains in the afternoon from San Jose to Stockton during weekdays. ACE stops at 10 stations along the route: (from west to east), San Jose Diridon, Santa Clara and Great America stations in Santa Clara County; Fremont, Pleasanton, Livermore, and Vasco Road stations in Alameda County; and Tracy, Lathrop/Manteca, and Stockton stations in San Joaquin County.
ACE trains are typically diesel locomotives pulling four to seven bi-level passenger coaches traveling at a top speed of 79 mph. A feature of the train is Wi-Fi connection so that riders may work on laptops as they ride to the workplace.
