Due to track maintenance by Union Pacific Rail Road, Amtrak has made adjustments to their train schedule which conflicts with the time ACE 04 is en route from Great America to Fremont.  ACE 04 passengers can expect delays from 2 to 15 minutes at Great America and Fremont until the track maintenance is complete.  Track maintenance is expected to be complete by February 14th.  Please call 1-800-411-RAIL if you have any questions or leave your question in the comment section below. 

The Great Valley Center has ranked the Altamont Corridor Partnership Work Group number 5 of the Top 11 Good Things That Have Happened in 2009 In The Central Valley.  This group is working to improve transit between the Central Valley and the Bay Area, which includes improving the ACE service.  The group is working on scenarios to reduce travel time from Stockton to San Jose, increase service and potentially add a line to Modesto.  For more information visit www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov or see the November post on this blog about the Altamont Corridor Rail Project.

It is that time of year for the Alameda County Fair from July 1st to July 19th (closed July 6th & 13th).  The fair may affect those parking at the Pleasanton ACE station.  Satellite parking is available on Valley at gate 12.  All buses will stop at the bus stop loop across the platform.  If you have any questions about parking or buses, please contact John Giovannoni.

Please see the information below regarding the proposed schedule change.

At the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission board meeting on Friday, June 26, the Commission took up the item of the proposed ACE schedule change (reference in an earlier post).  Staff presented the proposed schedule along with a summary of all comments received from the public.  In all, 43 written comments were received from passengers; 23 of which were complimentary toward the change and 20 expressed some reservation, especially with regard to the change of ACE 05.  The board approved the proposed schedule change with direction to staff to look into possible ways of reducing the 20-minute change to ACE 05.  As such, while the new schedule will not be made effective until the fall, staff will work with Union Pacific Railroad and Amtrak on any possible resolution to the ACE 05 schedule challenges.  We will continue to alert the passengers throughout the process of making the train schedule as efficient as possible.

I had a great opportunity on Wednesday to go with ACE staff and our partners at VTA to view our new Great America shuttle buses.  The new shuttles are propane powered, thus reducing emissions and improving your carbon footprint.  It is great to know that many of our passengers are now using a combination of bike, train and propane powered shuttles to get to work.  

This week we will be running a Wi-Fi evaluation onboard ACE 05 & 06.  The evaluation will take place on the train car nearest the locomotive.  Passengers are encouraged to try the service and send feedback to dandre@acerail.com.