At times, Interstate 580 between Castro Valley and Altamont Pass can feel like a parking lot. Much of the road's traffic is made up of commuters traveling to destinations in the San Francisco Bay Area from points in the San Joaquin Valley. There is more or less a spur of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system that branches off from the main line (known as the Blue Line) in the East Bay Area around Castro Valley and runs along the median of I-580 extending roughly to the I-680/I-580 interchange in the town of Dublin. There is a BART station there that is known as the Dublin-Pleasanton BART station.
BART is apparently not interested in extending rapid transit service a few miles further east to Livermore.
The plan is to build a passenger rail link connecting BART's Dublin-Pleasanton station to the San Joaquin Valley town of Mountain House, about 22 miles away. In future phases, the rail will be extended to Lathrop and Stockton, at the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The project in question is known as Valley Link.
The first few miles between the Dublin-Pleasanton BART Station and the Southfront Road Station will also be built in the median of I-580. Meanwhile, construction east of there requires the combined use of portions of the original right-of-way of the First Transcontinental Railroad through the Altamont Pass, which will be used in addition to the rail line that will be placed in the new right-of-way.
Construction is expected to begin in 2025. Operation, at least to Mountain House, is expected to begin in 2035. Four initial stations will be served. From west to east, these are: Dublin-Pleasanton, Isabel, Southfront Road, and Mountain House Community.
This is truly a visionary project and laudable in that the rail link has the potential to remove a significant amount of weekday commuter traffic from I-580, which in turn will help clean the air along the affected portion of the I-580 corridor in the area. Couple this with the operation of hydrogen fuel cell trains, and the emissions reduction should be even more pronounced. It is also laudable in that it will replace the need to build more freeway capacity, which in California is typically done by adding lanes, also known as freeway expansion.
As reported in a May 2, 2023, Tri-Valley/San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority press release,(1) it states: “The initial 22-mile operational phase of the Valley Link rail project between the Dublin/Pleasanton Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Station in Alameda County and a new Mountain House Community Station in San Joaquin County, including two additional stations in the City of Livermore, will connect tens of thousands of workers in the northern San Joaquin Valley to the Tri-Valley in the center of the Northern California Megaregion, one of the fastest growing and economically significant areas in the State of California, with all-day, bi-directional service at frequent intervals utilizing zero-emission rail vehicles.”
In the same release, the TVSJVRRA also noted that: “The Valley Link Rail Project is being implemented as a mega-regional partnership by a 15-member Board of Directors representing Alameda and San Joaquin Counties along with the communities of Danville, Dublin, Lathrop, Livermore, Manteca, Mountain House, Pleasanton, San Ramon, Stockton and Tracy. The project has broad support from all sectors of the Northern California Megaregion, is identified in all regional and countywide transportation plans, and already has more than one-third of its funding identified as available through local sources – a total of more than $800 million, including $400 million in Alameda County Measure BB transportation sales tax funds.”
Leveraging an already robust passenger rail service platform in California
Passenger trains in California continue to stay afloat. In addition to Amtrak's state-funded “California” services (the Capitol Corridor, Pacific surf boat and the Saint Joachim The Golden State offers a variety of passenger rail services, from the Altamont Corridor Express in the northern San Joaquin Valley and southern Bay Area to the San Diego Trolley in and around the San Diego region.
As for the former, operations began in 1998. ACE service will be extended to the Sacramento and Merced areas. Additional service is called Valley Rail.
Meanwhile, in Merced, Valley Rail will be linked to Amtrak and the future state high-speed rail, and interchange will be enabled via the transfer platform between stations. At least, that's how I understand it.
On the way
There are many passenger rail projects under development in the Golden State. Where passenger railways are being implemented where none existed before, wiser ideas have undoubtedly prevailed.
Grades
1. “State Awards $25 Million to Valley Link to Advance Project Development,” May 2, 2023 Tri-Valley/San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority press release.
In a previous release, the referenced interstate highway interchange in the Dublin-Pleasanton, California area was misidentified as the I-580/I-280 interchange. The interchange information in question has since been revised and is now correct. Additionally, the title date information was incorrect.
Updated: September 11, 2024 at 5:27 pm PDT.
Above and the corresponding images that appear on the home page: Roger Puta
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