> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.onsiteobserver.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # To get ACE trains to Sacramento, rail commission puts dozens of projects on hold - URL: https://www.onsiteobserver.com/to-get-ace-trains-to-sacramento-rail-commission-puts-dozens-of-projects-on-hold/ - Published: 2026-09-02T04:19:33.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-02T04:19:33.000Z - Author: Vitaliy Moskalenko - Tags: Transportation Sacramento is closer to getting a direct commuter rail link to Silicon Valley, but the first trains are now expected to arrive with fewer local stops than planners once proposed. The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission is stopping work on proposed stations near Sacramento City College and near Acoma Street and El Monte Avenue in Old North Sacramento. ## Sign up for Onsite Observer Sacramento-region development news: construction projects, permits, commercial real estate, and the local business trends behind them. Subscribe Email sent! Check your inbox to complete your signup. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime. The stations are part of Valley Rail, a regional program to expand ACE commuter rail and the state-supported Gold Runner intercity service, formerly known as Amtrak San Joaquins. The original Sacramento extension called for six new stations between Lodi and Natomas, but the commission is now concentrating its money and staff on a smaller first phase of the program. ![A Valley Rail map produced before Amtrak San Joaquins was renamed Gold Runner shows proposed ACE and Gold Runner routes connecting Sacramento with Stockton, San Jose and communities throughout the Central Valley.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/2f/e32feaaf-a1ce-486f-8068-a9b0cc9d6e12/content/images/2026/09/Valley-Rail-Map-1.jpg) A Valley Rail map produced before Amtrak San Joaquins was renamed Gold Runner shows proposed ACE and Gold Runner routes connecting Sacramento with Stockton, San Jose and communities throughout the Central Valley. Image: SSRJC. The two stations have been moved into a future phase with no construction or opening dates, according to a project list presented Aug. 21 to the commission’s Station and Facilities Development Committee. San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission CEO Chris Orlando told the committee that the designation does not permanently remove the stations from Valley Rail. “It just means we’re not spending staff time or consultant money on those projects at this time,” Orlando said. The two Sacramento stations are among dozens of projects being pushed back as the commission reduces Valley Rail from more than 40 active projects to 17\. At the same time, the smaller first phase is closer to being fully funded, giving the commission a clearer path toward its current goal of beginning service in 2031. ACE now operates four weekday round trips between Stockton and San Jose, carrying commuters between the San Joaquin Valley, the Tri-Valley and Silicon Valley. Valley Rail would extend that service north from Stockton, creating a one-seat ride between Natomas and San Jose with stops in Midtown and Elk Grove. ![An ACE route map shows the existing commuter rail line between Stockton and San Jose. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/2f/e32feaaf-a1ce-486f-8068-a9b0cc9d6e12/content/images/2026/09/ACE-Route-Map_V7-scaled.jpg) An ACE route map shows the existing commuter rail line between Stockton and San Jose. Image: ACE. For Sacramento, the extension would provide a second passenger rail route to the South Bay. Capitol Corridor travels west through Davis and Oakland. ACE would run south through Stockton before crossing the Altamont Pass, offering more direct access to the Tri-Valley and communities along the eastern side of the Bay Area. Gold Runner would also provide Sacramento passengers with a link to California’s future high-speed rail system. Under the High-Speed Rail Authority’s current plan, Gold Runner trains would meet high-speed trains at a shared station in Madera. Sacramento passengers could travel there by Gold Runner and transfer to high-speed service heading toward Fresno and Bakersfield. ACE itself would not operate on the high-speed tracks. The Sacramento connection would require a transfer at Madera, where Valley Rail’s first phase calls for relocating the existing Gold Runner station to the future high-speed rail site, creating a shared station for both services. ![California’s high-speed rail map shows the planned statewide system, including a future extension to Sacramento and the Madera station where Gold Runner passengers could transfer to high-speed trains. ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/e3/2f/e32feaaf-a1ce-486f-8068-a9b0cc9d6e12/content/images/2026/09/Valley-Rail--California-High-Speed.jpg) California’s high-speed rail map shows the planned statewide system, including a future extension to Sacramento and the Madera station where Gold Runner passengers could transfer to high-speed trains. Image: CHSRA. Funding for Valley Rail dates to 2018, when the California State Transportation Agency awarded about $500.5 million. The Sacramento service was initially promoted as opening by 2023, but years of design changes, negotiations with freight railroads and funding adjustments have pushed the target back eight years. The decision to narrow Valley Rail follows years in which the program accumulated dozens of separate projects without enough money to deliver all of them at once. By concentrating on work needed for the initial service, the commission is trying to move a smaller group of projects into construction instead of continuing to spend money across the entire plan. Other projects being pushed back would carry passenger rail farther south in the Central Valley. The commission’s second phase includes service to Modesto and Ceres, followed by later extensions to Turlock and eventually Merced, but the work remains under development and is not fully funded for construction. The commission may cancel existing contracts tied to deferred projects, return money that cannot be used elsewhere and transfer eligible funds to work that remains active. The projects could be reconsidered later as the agency studies future service and pursues additional grants. The plan moved closer to construction in August, when the California Transportation Commission approved shifting Valley Rail money into Phase One. At the Aug. 21 board meeting, Orlando said eight of the commission’s nine Phase One projects were fully funded. “We now have a clear path from the funding standpoint to deliver Phase One of Valley Rail,” Orlando said. The state also approved nearly $4.7 million to keep three Sacramento-area projects moving. About $3.2 million will pay for continued design of the Natomas station and for extending an existing parallel track near Del Paso Boulevard in North Sacramento. Another $1.5 million will cover easements, permits and other property-related work for the Midtown station. The Newark-Albrae Siding Connection in Alameda County is the only Phase One project still short of full funding. The commission needs about $28 million to complete it and is awaiting a decision on a state grant application. Even if the remaining construction gap is closed, the commission still needs money to operate trains to Sacramento. It is seeking $4 million for initial operating costs through a climate grant application led by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. The application comes after the [Sacramento Safe Streets and Affordable Transit Measure](https://www.onsiteobserver.com/sacramentos-75-million-transportation-tax-falls-short-of-november-ballot/), a proposed half-cent city sales tax for streets and transit, failed to collect enough valid signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot. Staff did not say whether the $4 million would be enough to launch the Sacramento service or how ongoing operations would be financed after the grant money ran out.