Another delay for ACE rail expansion. What it means for Stanislaus, other areas
The first trains were to run by late this year on extensions of the Altamont Corridor Express to Stanislaus and Sacramento counties.
The target now is 2031 for the northern branch and a date unknown for the southern, the planners said at a recent governing board meeting.
They cited rising construction costs — about $250 million beyond the $1.1 billion on hand — and the difficulty of sharing tracks with freight trains.
The effort also involves adding daily trips on the Amtrak Gold Runner between Sacramento and the San Joaquin Valley. They will connect in Madera to the first operating phase of high-speed rail, to Bakersfield, by 2033. This link is fully funded.
Stanislaus County Supervisor Vito Chiesa serves on the Amtrak route’s separate board and also has advocated for ACE. He said by phone Friday that grant applications and engineering will continue for the latter’s eventual southern leg.
“I was as disappointed as anyone,” Chiesa said. “It’s faster to get something completed in the north.”
He added that road projects have delays, too: About two decades of planning preceded the first phase of the North County Corridor, set to open in Riverbank in 2028. The Highway 132 bypass west from Modesto opened in 2022 after about 60 years of discussion.
The overall project is called Valley Rail and is overseen by the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. It aims to better connect residents to an affordable and climate-safe alternative to driving.
The rail expansion’s biggest cost is adding a second track where needed to ease conflicts with freight trains. ACE uses the Union Pacific Railroad, which must approve the track work, station platforms and other details.
A spokesperson for the Omaha-based railroad could not be reached for comment about the delay. It issued a statement about a previous reset of the timeline, in 2023: ““The process to overlay new passenger services onto an existing freight network is complex and must be done very carefully and thoughtfully. Union Pacific values our longstanding relationship with SJRRC and is committed to working with the agency to ensure the proposed Valley Rail and San Joaquin trains can be introduced safely and operate reliably.”
The planners also contend with utilities that share the freight corridors. The tracks near the future ACE route to Modesto, for example, have large fuel pipes and fiber-optic cables under them.
Some of the Sacramento-area construction segments will begin this year and be ready at various times. But they must follow a sequence that does not disrupt UP operations. The final piece is upgrading a siding south of Elk Grove. It will allow the top speed of 79 mph under federal rules for this type of track.
Where do ACE trains go now?
ACE has four weekday round trips between Stockton and San Jose, timed for commuters to Bay Area jobs. It stops along the way at the Manteca/Lathrop border and in Tracy, Livermore, Pleasanton, Fremont and Santa Clara.
The southern extension’s first funding was $400 million from the state in 2016. ACE was to get new stations in or near the downtowns of Manteca, Ripon, Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Livingston and Merced. The goal was to reach Stanislaus County by 2023 and Merced by 2027.
The state granted an additional $500 million in 2018 to extend ACE north. It will have stations west of Lodi, in northern Elk Grove and at Sacramento City College, Midtown, Old North Sacramento and Natomas. It had target dates similar to the southern route.
The planners announced in 2023 that neither branch would launch until late 2026. Rising costs and the UP review process were the main reasons then, too.
The southern extension would begin with stations in Ceres, Modesto and Manteca and leave others for later. The northern route will involve Natomas, Midtown and Elk Grove to start.
The newly announced timeline means only one added trip in 2031, on ACE from Natomas to San Jose. The planners said it would draw more riders than the southern branch.
Since its 1998 debut, ACE’s closest station to Stanislaus County residents has been at the Manteca/Lathrop border. They can drive there or take a Stanislaus Regional Transit bus.
How long has Modesto had Amtrak?
Modesto has had an Amtrak station since 1999, on the eastern edge of the city, about five miles from downtown. The Gold Runner has far more leisure travelers than ACE, with seven round trips every day of the week.
Five of them run between Bakersfield and Oakland, turning at Stockton. The stations along the way also include Wasco, Corcoran, Hanford, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Denair, Antioch, Martinez, Richmond and Emeryville.
The Gold Runner’s northern service has stations in the downtowns of Stockton, Lodi and Sacramento. This track cannot grow beyond two trips due to congested freight traffic.
The new trains instead will share the track and stations with ACE’s northern branch. The Gold Runner will add just one train at first but eventually could have four.
The Sacramento area already has robust rail service. Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor has frequent trips to San Jose by way of Oakland. The main Amtrak station also serves the interstate Coast Starlight and California Zephyr. Light-rail lines stretch from downtown to Folsom and from Cosumnes River College to Watt Avenue.
Details on new Sacramento-area stations expected in 2031:
Natomas: It will be near West Elkhorn Boulevard and include a spot where trains can be stored at night. A shuttle bus will run about five miles to Sacramento International Airport.
Midtown: The station will be at 19th and Q streets, close to where the light-rail lines intersect.
Elk Grove: The station will be at Laguna Boulevard and Dwight Road. It will be the first for the fast-growing city. The current Gold Runner goes through downtown without stopping.
At Stockton, both ACE and the Gold Runner will use the existing station on the east side of downtown. Amtrak has another Stockton depot for the trains to and from Oakland.
What about Merced end of ACE extension?
Merced always has been last in line for ACE service because of its distance from the current Stockton terminus. The plan has been to share a 15th Street station with high-speed rail. It would require demolishing a youth center, senior center and grocery store.
High-speed rail planners now prefer a cheaper station on open land at Highway 99 and Mission Boulevard. It has drawn protest from advocates for the downtown depot.
A solution, at least temporarily, lies at the Amtrak station on 24th Street. The Gold Runner route goes south from there to the Madera end of the high-speed rail construction zone. A new station will open next year, serving Amtrak and later the 220 mph service.
The new station will be on Avenue 12, closer to the heart of Madera. The area is mostly farmland now but could get dense housing around nearby Madera Community College.
The discussion about the Merced ACE station continues, said an email from Ahdel Ahmed, public relations manager for the commission.
“SJRRC is coordinating closely with the California High-Speed Rail Authority and will continue evaluating the best way to provide passenger connections between ACE, Gold Runner and future high-speed rail service,” he said.
Have any pieces of expanded rail been built?
Some elements of the ACE extension are in place even without the new tracks. Modesto remodeled its 1915 depot in 2023, but it will serve only bus riders until a train platform is added.
A year later in north Lathrop, a culvert was built for tracks that eventually will cross an irrigation canal. Officials yearning for something to celebrate staged a groundbreaking for the media. That area eventually will have a new station for transfers between ACE’s east-west and north-south lines.
Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi was in Manteca last week to help cut the ribbon on interchange upgrades at Highways 99 and 120. She also is on the ACE board and talked with The Modesto Bee afterward about the southern leg’s delay.
“I appreciate everybody’s patience,” Fugazi said. “We’ve been working on this for a long time. My hope is that it comes sooner rather than later.”
Chiesa has been on the Amtrak board for most of his 17 years as a county supervisor. “There’s no doubt it’s coming,” he said of the ACE extension.
This story was originally published June 23, 2026 at 7:00 AM with the headline "Another delay for ACE rail expansion. What it means for Stanislaus, other areas."
