A $960,000 grant secured by Congressman Josh Harder will help address a major rail bottleneck in Stockton that will ultimately improve train movements through Manteca.

The fix is a $237 million grade separation for the Stockton Diamond rail crossing.

The Stockton Diamond is the busiest and most congested railroad bottleneck in the state. Trains are constantly idling at the Diamond emitting harmful pollution into the air.

Harder secured $960,000 in federal funds for the project through a Community Project Funding (CPF) grant.

 It will go towards a critical water infrastructure project that must be completed before the railways can be separated.

The project has already been awarded a $100 million state grant to go toward construction of the grade separation.

“We have some of the worst air quality in the entire country and pollution from idling trains and cars is a huge part of the problem,” Harder said.

The goal is to eliminate train idling and provide for more efficient of goods and rail commuter passengers.

Currently, the BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad trains have to come to a stop to allow the other rail line’s train to clear the crossing.

“The Stockton Diamond Sewer Upsizing Project will expand capacity and strengthen the resilience of our water infrastructure, while seizing the opportunity provided by the work to improve our railroad infrastructure. With these investments, we are ensuring that both our water and our rail infrastructure can support our economy and our community into the future,” said Stacey Mortensen, Executive Director of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission.

 The projection by UP regarding the number of trains that pass through Manteca that will increase in the future along with Altamont Corridor Express service starting from Ceres in 2026 with most trains taking commuters into Sacramento, means trains traveling the tracks that slice through the middle of Manteca could triple from an average of 20 to 60 a day.

That is the equivalent of a train on average every 24 minutes as opposed to the current average of once every hour and 12 minutes.

Both Union Pacific and BNSF have major intermodal yards in the Manteca area where truck trailers are transferred to and from train flatcars. Much of that rail traffic passes through the Stockton Diamond.

The UP facility is nestled between Lathrop and Manteca and accessed from Roth Road. It has been approved to almost triple in size to 2,186 truck movements a day at complete buildout that is expected in 40 years.

The 2001 expansion of the Santa Fe facility 12 miles northeast of Manteca between Austin and Jack Tone roads has increased that railroad’s intermodal capacity in San Joaquin County from 120,000 to 300,000 units annually.

The Stockton Diamond impacts the frequency, reliability and potential expansion opportunity of ACE service and Amtrak San Joaquins passenger rail services that operate on the same rail lines. 

The Stockton Diamond Grade Separation project is a critical element in San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission’s vision to expand intercity and commuter rail service between the San Joaquin Valley, Sacramento, and the Bay Area.

SJRRC is currently in the planning and environmental phase of the $1 billion plus “Valley Rail” service expansion program for both ACE) and Amtrak San Joaquins. The Valley Rail Program will implement additional daily round-trips for the Amtrak San Joaquins service and extend the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) service between Sacramento and Merced. It also supports converting the San Joaquins train and thruway bus network to renewable diesel fuel and is a key component to improving air quality in the region.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com