Two plans for Chico passenger train service
State planners envision a time when passenger trains might depart Chico every hour heading to Sacramento.
For now, the goal is getting four round trips a day by 2031. But during a Zoom workshop this week on that smaller objective, the state's grander goal was reported.
It also has a grander timeline: The hourly trips wouldn't happen until 2050.
“Right now we're focused on the four round trips, because no one wants to wait until 2050 to have rail service to Chico,” said Chris Devine, the Butte County Association of Governments planner who's the point man on what's being called North Valley Rail.
That would be the extension of train service from Natomas in northern Sacramento to Chico.
The trains would be operated by the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, which runs the San Joaquin trains between Bakersfield, Stockton and Oakland. The JPA also runs the Altamont Corridor Express between Stockton and San Jose.
Those systems are currently in the midst of a $1.6 billion expansion to Natomas and to Union City in
the East Bay, where it would connect with the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. That work is to be complete by 2026.
And then, on to Chico by 2031.
Thursday's Zoom workshop was an introduction to the strategic plan for North Valley Rail. In addition to Chico, there would be stations
in Gridley, Marysville and Plumas Lake. Buses would link Oroville to the Gridley station, and the Natomas station to the Sacramento airport.
There would be two commuter trains southbound to Sacramento in the morning, and northbound in the evening. Two more round trips would be scheduled each
day as well.
It would take 75 minutes to ride from Chico to Natomas; 90 minutes to midtown Sacramento.
Riders could continue farther south, with one train running to Merced to connect to the high-speed train to Bakersfield, and another going to Union City to connect with BART. Stops
at Stockton would be coordinated with the existing service to San Jose and Oakland.
Proponents estimate almost 600,000 people would ride between Chico and Sacramento each year, or about 1,600 a day. It hasn't been determined how much it would cost to ride the trains.
However building the stations and adding a parallel set of tracks at places where trains would need to pass each other would cost about $530 million. It's expected grants would pay for most of those costs, as the state is putting some emphasis into increasing passenger rail traffic.
The California State Rail Plan, which was approved in March, calls for a 14 percent increase in ridership by 2050 to meet clean air goals. That would mean 6.5 million Californians would ride trains each day.
Under the state plan, there would be a passenger train between Chico and Redding by 2050, as well as the hourly trips between Chico and Sacramento.
But the local plan is the focus now. A draft of the North Valley Rail Strategic Plan is expected to be available in January at https:// northvalleyrail.org/ on the BCAG website. Comments will be taken through the month of January.
The BCAG board is scheduled to approve the plan in February. That will clear the way for the next step, which is environmental approval and preliminary design work.
The powerpoint used during Thursday's Zoom meeting, as well as tape of the event, should be posted on the website above in the next couple of weeks.