In about two years, anyone in Manteca’s original pre-1960s neighborhoods will be able, if they so desire, to walk less than a mile and board a train to San Jose or Sacramento.

And if all goes according to plan in 10 years, they could board an Altamont Corridor Express train at the Manteca Transit Center, take a short ride to a new ACE station in North Lathrop, transfer to Valley Link to reach Pleasanton-Dublin, and take Bay Area Rapid Transit all the way to San Francisco.

The reason for this is two things: First, the deal that raised the gasoline tax by 12 cents in 2017, and second, a cash injection of over $500 million for public transit in the Bay Area in 2021.

The agreement to increase the gasoline tax provided funds to extend ACE service from Ceres to Natomas, north of Sacramento.

Valley Link secured its seed funding from Bay Area communities committed to solving freeway congestion and providing transportation to affordable housing on the edge of the Greater Bay Area for the growing workforce.

It is expected that the rail network, when fully developed, will eventually facilitate bi-directional commuting, which could encourage Bay Area companies to relocate or expand their office workspaces, etc., to the de facto “outskirts” of San Jose, Oakland and San Francisco in the northern San Joaquin Valley.

But until then, and after commuter rail service is well established, it is expected that rail will allow residents of the northern San Joaquin Valley and beyond to access professional sporting events, concerts, festivals and other entertainment in the Bay Area/Sacramento without having to use a car.

All of this could be achieved by integrating the trains into a more robust mass transit network, such as buses or even light rail in places like San Jose and Sacramento.

To say that having Manteca, Lathrop, Tracy, Stockton and Ripon at the heart of a rail network connecting Amtrak, ACE and Valley Link intra-city services will be transformative is a gross understatement.

The creation of such a system is literally imminent.

It is not a fantasy.

At the same time, there is a good chance that the new North Lathrop station on the former Sharpe Depot site, which will provide transfers to the ACE-Valley Link, could also be connected to a third train system: California High Speed ​​​​Rail.

This is not a high-speed rail system per se, but rather a potential hybrid step that could put the Los Angeles-San Francisco connection into operation after the Merced-Bakersfield phase is completed.

The reason is simple.

There will be a lot of pressure to resume operations on the high-speed network in the next ten years.

Crossing the Pacheco Pass through the infamous San Andreas Fault will be a huge challenge and considerably more expensive than originally planned.

This is where ACE Forward comes into play.

In short, ACE Forward would integrate high-speed rail into the ACE system by extending existing commuter service south to Merced.

In addition, the tracks over Altamont Pass must be straightened to eliminate a wide strip where the speed limit is 20 to 25 miles per hour, allowing trains to travel at 100 miles per hour or more.

With ACE Forward, the nationwide network between major cities could be brought into operation more quickly, while the route from Pacheco Pass to San Francisco would progress even more slowly and at a significantly higher cost than the current high-speed work.

ACE trains connecting to high-speed rail in this way obviously cannot afford to stop at planned ACE stations in Turlock, Ceres, Ripon and Manteca, as well as at existing stations en route to San Jose to transfer to the CalTrain and reach San Francisco.

However, a stop in North Lathrop, where the line crosses the Lathrop Wye to San Jose, would be more practical, as trains already have to travel at lower speeds and there are over 800,000 people living within a 30-mile radius.

Even without the possible introduction of a temporary hybrid high-speed service, the passenger trains running along the route will have an impact on the regional economy.

ACE and Valley Link are less stressful, less costly and less environmentally damaging interconnectors for the workforce that needs more affordable housing and good-paying jobs in the Bay Area.

And since they are designed as commuter trains, this will only increase the pace of growth.

In a world where no one rarely stays at one company for 10 years, let alone 30 years or more, hybrid office-home work arrangements and commuting distances that would have required a full day’s drive one way just 120 years ago are the norm.

The expanded ACE service and Valley Link will only increase the residential attractiveness of the northern San Joaquin Valley.

The desire to access shopping, entertainment, and medical care in Stockton and Modesto was the reason for the introduction of inner-city passenger service with electric interurban cars to Manteca on the Tidewater Southern Spur north of French Camp in 1912.

It was also used to transport players and fans to baseball games in other communities along the Tidewater Line, which extended south to Turlock.

And those who wanted to continue their education after eighth grade could commute to Stockton High and back home.

Traveling by car back then was slow and dusty on poorly maintained roads.

At peak times, the Tidewater network operated 24 trains a day, covering the 53.2-kilometer network with 36 stations – most of them halts – in about 65 minutes.

The number of trains running daily had dropped to eight by 1932, as the automobile had become firmly established thanks to a paved highway system that was more than a decade old.

The last interurban passenger train from Tidewater ran on May 26, 1932.

In two years, the Tidewater will once again be part of a regional passenger rail system, albeit on a very small scale.

Passengers must walk across what used to be the Tidewater tracks to reach the ACE passenger platform, located south of the subway station on Moffat Boulevard.

This column is the opinion of editor Dennis Wyatt and does not necessarily reflect the views of The Bulletin or 209 Multimedia. He can be reached at [email protected]