Update: The draft Network Integration Plan has been posted: https://www.sacrt.com/apps/draft-network-integration-plan-available-for-public-review-and-comment/. Also added to the end of this post are a diagram of the Gold Line in Folsom and Rancho Cordova, and a table of the four projects. The Glenn Passing Track will be the first change to come online, and a very important one because it allows 15-minute service to Folsom.

At last night’s ECOS-TAQCC (Environmental Council of Sacramento – Transportation, Air Quality and Climate Change) committee, James Drake, Principal Planner with SacRT, gave a presentation on the Network Integration Plan. The plan has not quite been published, but will be soon. A link will be added here when available.

The requirement for the plan, and the funding for the plan, was the result of a 2020 TIRCP (Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program) grant for the purchase of 20 low-floor rail cars for the light rail system. The grant of $27.5M was for the rail cars and enhancement at Sacramento Valley Station (SVS). As part of the grant, SacRT is doing the Network Integration Plan to ensure efficient use of the cars and connections at and to SVS. Funding for another 20 low-floor cars was earlier awarded.

James presented a number of slides, which I did not capture. The timing and capacity slides shows the gradual replacement of old light rail cars with the new cars on the Gold Line, which currently runs from Folsom to SVS. Starting in 2023 and completing in about 2027, all the rail cars on the Gold Line will be low floor. The station platforms will be modified to accept the low floor cars, but will probably initially have modified and unmodified ends, so that they can serve both types of rail car. During the transition period, the low-floor train sets will only be two cars long in order to use the partial platforms. Eventually, the platforms will be entirely for low floor cars, except for those shared with the Blue Line, which will not be converted until after the Gold Line is converted. Or at least that seems to be the plan. The platform for low floor cars is eight inches above the rail, matching the floor height. The current platforms are level with the top of rail, and also have mini-high ramps for people with mobility issues, with the ramps being level with the floor of existing cars. The new low-floor train sets will continue to be three rail cars until the Blue Line, which shares these stations, is also converted, and additional platform modification are made.

There will also be enhancements to the Gold Line. The first is the installation of a second track at Glen Station in Folsom, which will allow the 15-minute frequency service to Folsom that SacRT has been promising. Three additional projects, not yet funded, will reduce the potential for delays on this Sunrise to Folsom section.

When the Sacramento Valley Station (SVS) modifications are complete, the Gold LIne will serve a north-south station at SVS, closer to the platforms, before looping back to 7th Street to continue on to the Township 9 station on Richards Blvd. The section from F Street to Richards Blvd will the double-tracked. When this project, not yet funded, is complete, the Green Line will be interlined (combined) with the Gold Line to become a single line from Folsom to Richards, and eventually north of there. A new station will be constructed in the Railyards, to serve the soccer stadium, Kaiser facility, and others. Not clear, but I don’t think that station is funded yet.

SVS will also have a bus terminal, close to the Capitol Corridor platforms, which bus routes 30, 38, 51, and 62 will use to provide service to the station as well as connections to the Gold Line. Route 62 will become 15-minute frequency, as it is expected to be a major access route for SVS. When the developments in the Railyards (Kaiser, et. al.) come on line, the buses may serve a station on 5th Street near the train platforms, not the bus terminal. It is not known whether any buses other than SacRT and Amtrak will use the bus terminal.

Bus route 62 will also serve the new San Joaquins/ACE station in midtown near 20th and between S and Q streets. The bus will be 1-1/2 blocks away from northbound 21st Street and 1/2 block away from southbound 19th Street.

Several other SacRT topics were discussed during the meeting, but these are the ones related to the TIRCP Network Integration Plan.

• SacRT light rail