In 2012 new platforms were constructed at Sacramento Valley Station, further away from the historical train station. A walkway and tunnels lead to the new platforms, and a cart shuttle service is offered to passengers that can’t make the longer walk. It has been suggested by a number of people that the new platforms are horrible and the tracks should be moved back where they were. STAR does not support that, as there are several positives about the new location. However, there may be a case made for a partial return to the old location.

Across-platform transfer from light rail to has so many advantages for passengers, and would probably greatly increase ridership on both trains and light rail. But the new platform location did not consider that, and may have made it impossible. The option diagrams presented by the SVS Master Plan process show two light rail locations, but neither are that much closer than currently, and both require a complicated and expensive flyover concourse, that might well not be completed until high speed rail comes to Sacramento, which is 20 years or more away.

An alternative would be to re-install the tracks from the west, up to the path, creating stub tracks that could be used by Capitol Corridor. If SacRT changed use of the North light rail car storage track and used it instead for passengers, at least during service hours, there would be a direct transfer across platform, but even if the existing light rail station location were used, it would be a short walk. The photo at right shows the area where rail tracks were removed, with the light rail cars directly adjacent.

The long distance Amtrak trains and the San Joaquins would not use these tracks, but would continue to use the current platforms. The San Joaquins come in from the east, not the west. The long-distance trains are too long for this shorter platform area, and of course they need to continue east and west. Currently, all but one of the Capitol Corridor trains terminates at Sacramento Valley Station, so could use stub tracks. The tracks in the current platform area are also used to store trains overnight, so there might need to be some jockeying of trains in and out of the stub tracks. Operationally, this is probably worse than the current platforms, but from a user perspective it could be much, much better.

In the long run, stub tracks are probably not an optimal solution and would be replaced by a better design, but until the entire station master plan is carried out, many years and many dollars into the future, stub tracks would allow Sacramento Valley Station to more effectively fulfill its role as a multi-modal hub.

Thank you to the several STAR members who contributed to this idea.

• Sacramento Valley Station