Caltrain's Forgotten Little Brother? (Episode 6 - ACE)
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- čas přidán 8. 02. 2024
- Have you heard of this system before? Many people even inside the Bay Area don't know about this commuter rail system that links the Central Valley with the South Bay. Running only eight times a day with morning trips from Stockton and evening trips from San Jose, this was built solely for commuters in mind. Join me in discovering the forgotten little brother of Bay Area transit agencies, Altamont Corridor Express.
Special thank you to Mansoor Mojo for reaching out to me with ACE footage!
Music from Epidemic Sound.
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Twitter: / todgodtweets
Sources:
www.bayrailalliance.org/altam...
www.acerail.com/About/History-...
web.archive.org/web/201609130...
transittoronto.ca/regional/25...
sjjpa.com/station-area-develo...
www.recordnet.com/story/news/...
www.sjcog.org/CivicAlerts.asp...
cdn.acerail.com/wp-content/up...
iseptaphilly.com/destination/...
www.independentnews.com/news/...
www.livermoreca.gov/departmen...
fremontcityca.iqm2.com/Citize...
www.relatedsantaclara.com/
www.santaclaraca.gov/our-city...
sfyimby.com/2023/12/new-detai...
www.santaclaraca.gov/Home/Com...
www.rtands.com/news/altamont-...
www.sanjoseca.gov/home/showpu...
www.bayrailalliance.org/acefo...
www.bayrailalliance.org/tri-v...
Newsom would be wise to listen to the decrees of the TODGod lest he feel the wrath
He should appoint me as the Head of Caltrans
You didn't mention the funniest part! They'll come on the intercom when leaving San Jose just to remind passengers "We are not Caltrain, we are not Amtrak, we do not go to San Francisco" every time.
Though to be fair, Amtrak does not run trains to San Francisco. It would be cool if they extended the surf liner to SF
always a classic
@@tonywalters7298 The Coast Daylight proposal has been in the works for over twenty years. Around 2003 Amtrak, CalTrans Division of Rail and the LOSSAN corridor started operating a Surfliner that left LA around 7:30 and terminated in SLO around 12:45. This was train 799. The return trip (Train 798) left SLO at 2:00 and arrived back at LAUPT at 7:40. The LA Rail Car group of private car owners used to run their cars behind the Surfliner on most Saturdays. I rode a few.
The plan was to extend this to San Francisco. Caltrain had planned to give up one of its Express Train slots in order to accommodate it. It would have acted as a sweeper train stopping at Paso Robles, King City, Soledad, Salinas, Watsonville Jct/Pajaro, Gilroy, San Jose, Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Millbrae and San Francisco, running about two hours earlier before the Coast Starlight. At San Jose passengers bound for points north could transfer after a brief layover to the Starlight. The brochure I have did not print suggested times. Just early evening morning departures and early evening arrivals in SF and LA. with day meets in SLO.
What has delayed this? In my opinion and recollection: first UP demanded passing tracks, CTC (and now PTC), then getting some money in CalTrans Division of Rail's budget for it, then 2008 - 2011 recession, and finally we have come out of the great recession most intercity rail money has gone towards new rail cars, maintaining the existing services (thanks to the PRIIA/Amtrak Reauthorization) and HSR.
Here is the webpage for the least known of CA's intercity rail corridor agencies. It only exists on paper and the web. www.slocog.org/programs/public-transportation/rail/coast-rail-coordinating-council-crcc
A good thing about Fremont Station: there's so much food nearby. There's indian food, two boba shops, a coffeshop, a hot pot place, a Nepalese restaurant, a donut shop, afgan food, filipino food, a diner, and other fast food places.
I love the Fremont Station!!
Clipper is a strictly 9 county Bay Area thing and the MTC are very adamant about it. Any and all transit leaving the 9 counties do not accept Clipper Card, with the sole exception of the Soltrans Blue Line bus, which runs as far as UC Davis (and formerly even went all the way to Sacramento before they cut that part 2 years ago)
Filming ACE and Capitol Corridor at Great America was my first foray into railfanning as well as the first time I used public transit by myself
How’d it go?
Ok I guess, I uploaded it to my channel.
The Bay Area is really just going for the record of most different rail systems in one metro area huh. BART, Muni, VTA light rail, CalTrain, Capital Corridor, ACE, SMART, streetcar, cable car, and valley link. That’s 10 plus Amtrak long distance and CAHSR (at some point).
The problem with consolidation is that each system is so different and politics. Smart is disconnected from the rest of the rail networks and uses DMU trains on its own single track line. Capitol Corridor and ACE have some in common but they are different from the rest as they use UPRR tracks with large infrequent locomotive hauled trains. Caltrain will soon use EMU trains on its own 2-4 track alignment with frequent service. And BART is basically a metro system that extends 50 miles. I could see the argument for combining Caltrain and Bart and having ACE and CC combine. But long term consolidation doesn’t make sense until the Dumbarton rail and second transbay tubes eventually get built.
@@G-546 BART runs on wider gauge tracks, so it really can't be integrated with any other networks. It's stuck being an oddball loner. Eventually Caltrain, Capitol Corridor, and ACE should all be consolidated with CAHSR, but I'm not sure there's any reason to do so before that starts operating.
@selanryn5849 oh God no. Leave the commuters as they are since CAHSR is moreso to connect the 2 greater mega regions through the 3 mega region of San Joaquin. CAHSR is a region connector more than a commuters project.
All that to say, regional commuter rails still will and do have a place where they are. Dont touch them unless it's to expand.
@@selanryn5849 I’m more talking from a timetable and fare payment perspective. Currently Millbrae is the only transfer, but in the future there will be far more so fare integration should happen.
When only four trains run a weekday, there's not much opportunity for TOD. Then again, if SSCV can do it...
The ACE is planning on adding a ton of trip and a second 15-20 minute all-day frequency service is in the process of being constructed right now. That's Valley Link and ACE will eventually partially switch to that right of way and share track. At that point, when ACE connects to CAHSR and has a super-frequent twin TOD will become vastly more relevant!
Awesome video, dude! ACE has potential, but yeah... It's a commuter train. But not like our other "commuter" trains in the Bay. It's an actual red-blooded American commuter train with four trip in one direction in the morning and four trips in the opposite direction in the evening. But I think that it's still important to look at how it can be expanded and improved! Also, weren't they planning on also adding a stop at Union City BART? That would be cool actually.
On a different note, where's the discord link? I wanted to help with the BART research. There's soooooooo much stuff there. You probably need more hands.
Seriously can't wait for ACE to finally reach us here in Modesto!
Hopefully they don’t build those office buildings at Diridon. That is the last kind of development we need. We have way too many empty office buildings as it is.
Yeah I agree. I was really hoping for Downtown West to add several thousand units of housing. Not twelve story office towers…
They need to up the frequency to like 20 trains an day period.
Yes
Yes agree I would actually use ACE train if they did this!
As far as the idea of running more trains on the line, you have to remember that Amtrak and freight trains have to share the rails with ACE. Union Pacific owns and maintains some areas of the rail.
Union Pacific owns almost all of the track, which was mostly the old Western Pacific RR. The ACE depot in Stockton is the old Southern Pacific depot. The San Joaquin depot in Stockton is the old Santa Fe depot.
I can’t wait for ACE new branch to Merced,California but I think they are going to need 2 tracks so ACE can stop at Downtown Modesto Station and Union Pacific can go by the Ace train on the other track.
Continuing the great Bay Area Urbanist tradition of mispronouncing (it's super small don't worry, plus it helps with engagement!)
Love the video, I love when people use the airport as an excuse for why San Jose is so sprawling, when Santa Clara is building a ton.
Exactly!! Santa Clara even wants to revitalize their “downtown” core of present day strip malls
Im always so annoyed at manteca's inability to have a good bus service. They have a very nice looking bus terminal that is right next to a decent bike path that connects to a lot of neighborhoods plus the Lathrop/Manteca station has clear markings of bus bays. Except none of the busses even drive into the station, instead you have to walk out to the street to catch the bus. Theres so much potential for a compatent bus service but they fell so flat. Also W video cant wait for the bart series :D
Hear me out. They should build a single track long tunnel across the Altamont pass. This would allow for both Ace and valley link to have fast rush hour commute direction services. Bi directional use in the off peak. Then the reverse commutes could use the slots on the UP freight line. This is relatively cheaper than other options and could in the long term give CAHSR’s Pacheco pass some redundancy
To be very blunt, this is a commuter service for white collar workers who live in Stockton and work in Silicon Valley.
They don't encourage other riders, causal or otherwise. I use to commute on it daily from Tracy to Mountain View via Great America using their shuttle service. It was horrid. Trying to leave the parking lot in the evening is a rush to your cars, just road rage for the 10 minutes it took to drive home. ACE is not a fun experience, but it beats sitting on 580 or 84. Barely.
Yeah I can very much relate to parking traffic. I often run out of the train and to my car at the end of the lot so I am not stuck in traffic for another 10 minutes
I really wish they would make this service 7-days a week with two way service all day. It would actually make it possible to use some of those more walkable stations like Livermore, where ACE is the only rail service in town. One important thing that was missed: there is a whole network of free dedicated ACE shuttles run by VTA that connect from Great America Station to several large employment hubs in Silicon Valley. You can see them all on the VTA full service map.
I agree with your opinions. It has a ton of potential, but frequency makes it more like a bus to work. Not a rail service.
Thanks for making theses videos, your insight is thoughtful.
New TOD God video? It's a good day.
☺️
ACEs F40s weren't made by EMD, but by MPI and these siemens chargers are supposed to be a part of their modesto extension project that they have been planning to do. Same as they also got new bombardier coaches and cabcars. Don't expect ACE's F40s to leave anytime soon as they're staying. For Caltrain, they also have MPI F40s but they are also going to stay as they recently got a midlife overhaul while the MP36s are also getting them right now.
Thank You!
Clipper card is a project of the MTC which is the nine county Bay Area. San Joaquin is not part of that unfortunately.
Pretty much everyone rides it from San Joaquin county to the bay though, so it very much would make sense
Sure. But I reckon it’s much easier for San Joaquin to contract the MTC to integrate the Clipper Card service than to expand into Sacramento and Merced. It’s more of an administration issue than anything
Ive been saying it a lot but a lot of old freight row could be used for public transport if done right.
You would have to buy the track outright because most of the Class ones won't let you upgrade the track otherwise
A part of why the service is the way it is that i'm mad you left out is the Stockton Diamond. Imagine the pain of scheduling two commuter rails AND freight across that! Thankfully there is a plan to grade separate it, but the issue still remains the Stockton terminus. the first San Joaquin train doesn't leave Bakersfield until about 4 am and gets into Stockton at about 7 am going Northbound. And Southbound from Oakland is at 6 am, arriving in Stockton at 8 am. Evening is when that mess starts up.
Also, as a video idea, would you ever TOD a city's bus network? Just from my experience, AC Transit and Stockton's RTD are pretty solid. And I've rode on some pretty _baaad_ networks before.
Nice
babe wake up, new TOD God video just dropped!
You did not mention that you can buy a single Amtrak ticket on the AM ACE trains connecting to the SB Coast Starlight. Costs $6 extra to start in Livermore. I can’t drive from Livermore to SJ for $6 during rush hour. The Livermore station is also a bus hub making it easy to get to - even from BART. Blessings!
I absolutely love your videos! Would love to see you do a trip to Toronto to review all the transit systems there (TTC Streetcar, TTC Subway, GO Train, VIVA BRTs, etc.)
Im moving to tracy and gonna be near a ace station. The altimont has me seriously thinking about using it for my commutes. Helps i love trains.
Great video!
Love your vids G, Can't wait for the Bart vid
I will be forever furious at the failure of Bart to extend to Livermore, and Valley Link is just salt on the wound. Then again, at least with Valley Link there's a possibility of a future where the Bay Area comes to its senses and retools it for Bart use instead.
Every time you make the traveling public transfer, you loose half of your potential riders.
@@johnhblaubachea5156That's what I'm sayin'!
It needs to have new tunnels added in between Tracy Pleasanton then another to link with BART electrify and run at 150 mph HSR yes electrify it
I'll take the fact that ACE doesn't accept Clipper card as further evidence that Stockton is not part of the Bay Area.
Wish you talked a little about Aces path through the baylands park and alviso area. Always loved seeing what remains of the town of drawbridge on my ACE commute
You should do a video on the metrolink system in Los Angeles, California😁👍🏻🚊🚉
That’s a long term plan, i would love to!
Also, Ripon is pronounced like the words "rip" and "on," and Ceres sounds like "series."
Let me guess, Sacramento Midtown Station will also not be connected to anything of note, using the old Santa Fe depot over trying to set up an interchange with the Gold Line's R-street Viaduct. I've been planning to try a car-free trip to the Bay Area, and the lack of interchanges and low frequencies of some systems are a nightmare when coming from the valley.
Feb 7th on the Fremont info board and you uploaded Feb 10th, you were busy!
Yea I had to get some last minute footage hahaha
are you going to review SacRt light rail next
haha this was very funny, when's your bart video coming out!
also where will old Caltrain rolling stock go? ACE should have some
How do they schedule equipment and crews. Do people work just 2 1/2 hours? Or are they ferried back by car for another run? Do they need 4 trains? What am I missing?
What? ACE doesn’t accept Clipper cards!? Even up here in the Seattle area, Washington State Ferries accept Orca cards (though they insultingly don’t offer transfers)
Yep… had to download the ACE app and everything.
One thing I would have liked to have heard about - there was a plan for ACE owning its own right of way (by upgrading the transcontinental railroad corridor) and potentially electrifying a bit ago. This seems like a good direction, but it's not clear to me that ACE is still committed to the vision. Is it still happening eventually?
IK Bart is on the way, do you need help with footage of local stations?
Email me :) let’s chT
*chat
@@todgod Emailed and sent a reply on Twitter.
ACE F40s are actually MPI F40s call them “Boises”
Why don’t they integrate ACE and Caltrain into one system ? I’d love Caltrain to take advantage of this rolling stock for services south of San Jose. Also a one seat ride from Livermore to Mountain View will do a lot to cut down on South Bay traffic.
👍
Is Capitol Corridor a better system even though like ACE it does not use clipper cards?
I think so. The frequencies are much better and it serves a higher populace and two distinct important metro areas in California. ACE is just a plain commuter service
Depends the Capitol Corridor is Amtrak so it's Intercity not Commuter Rail
Train kept a rollin' all night long.
So does this mean you're going to cover Capitol Corridor and the San Joaquins?
Capitol Corridor is on the short list. The San Joaquins IMO is less a form of public transit and moreso a statewide rail service so probably not
Oooo
The idea of a hydrogen powered train seems absurd to me. I’d love to hear more about it, but it strikes me as a “let’s build this because it sounds cool” type of decision.
Oh no, hydrogen is definitely an absurd "power source" in general. Hydrogen vehicles are just electric vehicles but instead of a battery they use a fuel cell. Hence, there is no physical way for them to be as efficient as a pure battery vehicle by definition. And hydrogen is currently, and will be for at least the next 3-4 decades, be extracted exclusively from plain old natural gas. So it's much more environmentally damaging than diesel.
Hydrogen's only saving grace is that it does not generate local emissions at the tailpipe. In all other ways its worse than not just catenary or batteries (only possible for short routes), but also worse than diesel in terms of carbon emissions. It's a meme that American passenger rail carriers are forced to take seriously because our freight rail industry is determined to never allow electrification under any circumstances.
Nope
Yeah hydrogen is terrible for anything were you need power, just Electrify it
They have in the works for the Redlands to San Bernardino Arrow service. It will complement their four RDC units.
Valley link seems silly, just make it bart!
Why is everything 1 to 3 stories
Its California
Two things:
First, could we merge Caltrain with ACE and Capitol Corridors? I mean, why have three regional agencies when we could merge them into one.
Second, when are you covering BART?
No, you don‘t need to merge them. They each have their specialty and merging them would create an unwieldy company with too many different services to manage. You can integrate fares without merging operators.
10K sq ft of commercial space is virtually nothing. It's 10 2-bedroom apartments. From the description, the system has a serious last-mile problem. Somebody thought the pax would drive to the stations. ACE service density sucks. Something should be done about that. Building new office space in a hybrid work world is delusional. Corporations are not trustworthy unless contractural provisions enforce community benefits, and there are meaningful penalties for noncompliance.
It's pronounced rip-uhn not ripone
Umm... haven't watched it yet - just disagreeing with the title...i dont know about now (post pandemic) but pre pandemic, this was no forgotten rail service. It was basically runnign st capacity for years...
Now on to the video...
It barely runs lol
What does ALL that have to do with the Train Services...get it together, Mr Click Bait...
"The best goddamn team in the NFL"
That was a lie