Published Tuesday, February 13, 2001, in the San Francisco Chronicle
Altamont Line Getting New Trains
Chronicle Staff Report
Relief is just around the bend for passengers of the Altamont
Commuter Express, who cram their way onto two overcrowded daily
trains between the San Joaquin Valley and Silicon Valley.
ACE officials announced plans yesterday to begin running a third
round-trip train March 5, with a fourth daily train on track for a
fall start. The new trains are expected to ease the standing-room-
only crowds aboard ACE and also attract new riders.
"This is really bringing ACE of age," said Scott Haggerty, an Alameda
County supervisor and member of the ACE Authority, a three-county
agency that oversees the commuter rail service. "We've been waiting a
long time to bring on extra trains."
The imminent arrival of more trains was welcome news for ACE riders,
too.
"I can hardly imagine any transit system that has more need for
additional service than ACE," said Michael Graff, a software engineer
who has ridden ACE since its start. "Getting on in Fremont, that
train is packed, just packed."
ACE's two daily round-trip trains have been popular among commuters
since service began Oct. 19, 1998. At first, each 1,550-seat train
carried about 1, 400 passengers. But with the technology boom and
Silicon Valley's high housing prices driving more workers to the San
Joaquin Valley, ridership has swelled.
An average of 2,100 people now crowd onto each train, with some
passengers forced to sit in the vestibules or stand in the aisles.
The third and fourth trains won't start in Stockton, where ridership
has been relatively light, but in Lathrop, near Manteca. The new
morning and evening trains will both depart about an hour later than
the current last trains.
The morning train will leave Lathrop at 6:52 a.m., stopping in
Pleasanton at 7:52 a.m. and arriving in San Jose at 8:56 a.m. In the
evening, the new train will depart San Jose at 6:45 p.m., stopping in
Pleasanton at 7:39 p.m. and ending in Lathrop at 8:53 p.m.
In exchange for the rights to run the two extra trains, ACE will pay
$15.9 million to Union Pacific Railroad for track improvements.
The ACE Authority also said it would start a fourth round-trip train
in the fall, but the start date and other details have not been
firmed up.
ACE has already taken delivery of two new locomotives and five double-
deck passenger cars for the new service. Along with its move to a
three-train schedule, ACE will also move from the Union Pacific rails
to the Caltrain tracks between Santa Clara and San Jose, adding a
stop in downtown Santa Clara.
E-mail Michael Cabanatuan at mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com.
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