An $18.7 million federal grant will aid Amtrak’s upcoming expansion through Stanislaus County.
The money, announced Oct. 29, will go toward second tracks and boarding platforms at the Modesto and Denair stations. This will allow passenger and freight trains to pass each other without delays, said Edward Barrera, deputy division chief for public affairs at the California Department of Transportation.
The rest of the $35 million cost will come from Caltran’s own funds. It subsidizes capital and operating expenses for the Amtrak San Joaquins service under an agreement with the national rail network.
The new funding adds to about $1.8 billion already on hand to expand Amtrak and the Altamont Corridor Express in the Central Valley and Bay Area. Early phases could be running by late 2026.
Amtrak has five daily round trips between Bakersfield and Oakland and a sixth branching at Stockton to Sacramento. The expansion will result in 12 trips total, six of them serving the capital.
Amtrak will tie in at Merced to the high-speed rail stretch to Bakersfield, if the state secures about $3 billion more for that controversial project.