The Tri-Valley-San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority is a special-purpose district body formed for the sole purpose of providing a public transit connection, known as Valley Link, between broad-gauge

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes on of rapid transit lines, including a spur line in eastern Contra Costa County which uses ...

(BART) and standard-gauge Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) services, in Northern California. In its initial phase, Valley Link is a planned rail project to connect the existing end-of-track

Dublin/Pleasanton BART station Dublin/Pleasanton station is a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station on the border of Dublin and Pleasanton in California. It is the eastern terminus of the Dublin/Pleasanton–Daly City line. It is also a major bus terminal served by six provid ...

with the ACE North Lathrop station, using standard-gauge electro-diesel multiple unit vehicles.

History

About of the

First transcontinental railroad North America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the " Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869 that connected the existing eastern U.S. rail netwo ...

right of way through the Tri-Valley and Altamont Pass, originally established in 1869 by the old Western Pacific Railroad, was

deed In common law, a deed is any legal instrument in writing which passes, affirms or confirms an interest, right, or property and that is signed, attested, delivered, and in some jurisdictions, sealed. It is commonly associated with transferring ...

ed to Alameda County by

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

in 1984. This historic 1869 route featured a Summit Tunnel, long, blasted and dug by Chinese laborers. The

Altamont Commuter Express The Altamont Corridor Express (also known as ACE, formerly Altamont Commuter Express) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs ...

commuter rail service, which began between Stockton and San Jose in 1998, uses the other Union Pacific right of way that goes over Altamont Pass, established in 1908. A similar plan to run

diesel multiple unit A diesel multiple unit or DMU is a multiple-unit train powered by on-board diesel engines. A DMU requires no separate locomotive, as the engines are incorporated into one or more of the carriages. Diesel-powered single-unit railcars are also ...

trains across Altamont Pass was proposed by BART in 2003, though it comprised a larger service area (continuing north along the Iron Horse Regional Trail, a former Southern Pacific right-of-way). In 2017, citing lack of interest from the Bay Area Rapid Transit District in bringing BART service directly to Livermore, the Livermore City Council proposed a newly established local entity to undertake planning and construction of the extension, which was also recommended by the California State Assembly Transportation Committee. Assembly Bill 758 was signed by

Governor of California The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, the g ...

Jerry Brown on October 13, 2017, formally establishing the Authority. On May 24, 2018, the BART board voted against a full rapid transit BART build or a

bus rapid transit Bus rapid transit (BRT), also called a busway or transitway, is a bus-based public transport system designed to have much more capacity, reliability and other quality features than a conventional bus system. Typically, a BRT system includes ...

system to extend service east from Dublin/Pleasanton station. This prompted the new Rail Authority to initiate planning of a new transit system. A final feasibility report was released in October 2019. The buildout cost to North Lathrop was estimated at between $1.88 billion and $3.21 billion, with an expected start of operations between the second quarter of 2027 and the fourth quarter of 2028. Scott Haggerty, one of the founders of the TVSJVRRA, noted that the popularity of the project was reflected in the volume of public comments to the feasibility report. A draft environmental impact report was released in December 2020. The final environmental impact report was approved by the board in May 2021, allowing the rail authority to proceed with design and continue seeking funding for the project.

Rail service

Valley Link is a plan to utilize

s or

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a numbe ...

s along the former

right-of-way through the Altamont Pass and in the Interstate 580 median through the city of Livermore. Trains would initially run from the ACE North Lathrop station to the Dublin/Pleasanton BART station with stops in the Tracy area and potential transfer stations with ACE at Greenville Road in Livermore and North Lathrop. Weekday service would connect to every other BART train at Dublin/Pleasanton. The developer of River Islands has offered to cover the cost of station construction in exchange for the ability to build a transit village at the site. In 2018, Stadler met with the governing board to discuss traction sources;

or diesel / battery electric hybrid vehicles will likely serve the route. AECOM was contracted to perform a feasibility study for the project that same year. The

loading gauge A loading gauge is a diagram or physical structure that defines the maximum height and width dimensions in railway vehicles and their loads. Their purpose is to ensure that rail vehicles can pass safely through tunnels and under bridges, and ke ...

of highway underpasses limits the selection of rolling stock. The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission agreed to operate the service in 2020.

Funding

Funds previously allocated to BART to construct a Livermore extension were forfeited to this authority by July 1, 2018, amounting to at least $145 million. Funding for the feasibility study was provided variously by

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and the San Joaquin County Council of Governments. By February 2019, more than $588 million had been accumulated for the project. In 2020, the project gained a further $400 million from reallocated BART funds.

Stations

Dublin Pleasanton station from garage, May 2018

The following are initial planned stations along the route: Infill stations at Ellis and Grant Line Road may be added in the future. The second phase is planned to extend the line north to

Stockton Stockton may refer to: Places Australia * Stockton, New South Wales * Stockton, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region New Zealand *Stockton, New Zealand United Kingdom *Stockton, Cheshire *Stockton, Norfolk *Stockton, Chirbu ...

References

External links

Official website of Valley Link Rail
{{SFBAtransit Valley Link Proposed railway lines in California 2017 establishments in California Railway lines in highway medians Railway companies established in 2017 2028 in rail transport