The late Bob Cabral’s vision may one day come true for Manteca.

Cabral anticipated that the day would come when people living in the East Bay and San Jose would catch an Altamont Commuter Express train and head west to jobs in Manteca, Tracy and Stockton. The reverse commute, Cabral believed, would bolster the Northern San Joaquin Valley economy.

Cabral was an Escalon almond grower who served on the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors. He is credited with being the driving force that got ACE service launched.

ACE currently is working on its own high speed rail project that would slash the travel time to San Jose in half to 55 minutes. That would be accomplished by accessing high speed rail bound money to secure right-of-way over the Altamont for a route that would allow trains to travel at speeds in excess of 100 mph before slowing down on both sides when going through cities. Currently ACE shares tracks with Union Pacific on rails that force trains to slow down to 25 mph.

“Cutting travel time between San Jose and Manteca down to 55 minutes or less would be a big deal for the economy,” noted Don Smail who serves as the City of Manteca’s economic development manager.

Smail sees the faster rail service working to Manteca’s advantage in two ways if it materializes down the road.

“Not only would you be able to get from Manteca to the new (San Francisco) 49ers stadium in Santa Clara by rail but if Great Wolf Resort is built here people from San Jose could reach it by rail as well,” Smail said.

The development of a high speed ACE system would offer Manteca the chance to develop an economic hub around a future station stop.

Smail could see small scale offices on top of the transit station that would allow people to work there and then - if needed - catch an ACE train to San Jose, Pleasanton or Santa Clara to go to meetings and such.

“If you cut travel down to 55 minutes it creates a lot of possibilities,” Smail emphasized.

The extension of ACE to Modesto would be the game changer for Manteca.

Smail noted current Lathrop/Manteca station that serves the existing Stockton to San Jose trains that is located on Yosemite Avenue is away from services.

“You can’t even buy a cup of coffee there,” Smail noted.

Yet because of the number of commuters that drive to the station from as far away as Sonora and Merced, it is always the top or second highest boarding stop on the system for commuters.

Service to Modesto would create the opportunity for a Manteca station stop.

Smail could see a transit village build up around an ACE stop whether it is part of downtown across from the $6.1 million station breaking ground this spring on Moffat or a location along the 120 Bypass possibly at Main Street.

No route has been selected as of yet if ACE gets funding for such a line. The preferred ACE route could be down the 120 corridor median.

In such a case a station could be built in the freeway median such as the BART station in Pleasanton. That would allow for the possibility of a transit village possibly on the southern side of the 120 Bypass and Main Street interchange.