Monday, March 12, 2001 2:45 AM MST Fremont Argus
ACE looks ahead to fourth train
System's immense popularity may mean it needs 8 trains
By Mike White
STAFF WRITER
The ACE system is on track to add a fourth commuter train by the end
of the year, after seeing ridership skyrocket last week.
When the Altamont Commuter Express system added a third train March 5,
it immediately became standing-room only, like the other two trains
that run earlier in the morning.
The ACE system -- which picks up commuters at the Centerville station
in Fremont on its way from Stockton to San Jose -- began in October
1999 with two trains. The trains make numerous stops including
Lathrop/Manteca, Livermore and Pleasanton, on their way to the Great
America station in Santa Clara, where hundreds of Silicon Valley
workers get off, and Diridon Station in downtown San Jose.
The crowded conditions on the third train were not altogether
unexpected. The system already was carrying 700 more people per day
than it had seats, said Stacey Mortensen, executive director of ACE.
The new train added a capacity of 560 seats.
Not all of the long-time passengers found seats on the new train,
however. On the first day alone, the third train brought an additional
380 riders to ACE.
"The ridership shows there really is a big need for this system," said
Chris Gray, chief of staff for Alameda County Supervisor Scott
Haggerty. Haggerty, whose district includes Fremont as well as
Pleasanton and Livermore, serves as chairman of the ACE board of
directors.
"We all deemed that the third train was a big success," Gray said.
"The only frustration is the delay in getting the new trains going."
Getting the fourth train on-track should be easier, as the
negotiations for track time already have been completed with Union
Pacific Railroad and Caltrain.
The fourth train should be ready to go by November, Mortensen said.
Plans call for a fifth and a sixth train to be added in phases until
the year 2006, but the congestion on the system is leading officials
to consider ways to speed up the expansion, Mortensen said.
"One-hundred percent ridership on the first day -- that is great
news," said Richard Silver, executive director of the Train Riders
Association of California.
While he had mostly positive things to say about the startup commuter
rail line, he did say he thinks there are enough potential riders to
fill eight trains, and he urged officials to come up with the money
for expansion as soon as possible.
He also suggested that the trains turn around once they reach Santa
Clara and San Jose and bring commuters to places such as Fremont.
Mortensen said ACE is considering such a move in the future.
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