Altamont Commuter Express (ACE)

The San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) embarked on a project to provide commuter rail service from Stockton to San Jose with stops at nine stations. The first phase included six stations. It was planned that the service operated two trains daily from Stockton to San Jose by March 1, 1998. Known as the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE), the project involved a fast-tracked design process of eleven weeks for six stations. Transmetrics was selected as prime consultant to provide design and construction management services. Transmetrics, Inc. was responsible for project design management, project coordination, project development, and preparation of construction documents for six stations and parking facilities within the Union Pacific right-of-way in the Counties of San Joaquin, Alameda, and Santa Clara. Each of these stations needed additional offsite work for which Transmetrics was required to develop construction drawings. The project required management of five sub consultants and coordination with six cities, three counties, and several regional, state, and federal agencies in addition to the Union Pacific Railroad in Omaha, Nebraska, and several local transit operators. Each of the stations has a canopy and other amenities such as bicycle lockers, benches, ramps for disabled, provisions for ticket-vending machines, and area lighting. The parking lot and the station surrounding area is graded to provide adequate drainage. The design proceeded in three phases leading to the delivery of specifications and drawings. In each phase, civil engineers, architect designers, geotechnical engineers, surveyors and electrical engineers worked closely together to implement the design standards and applicable codes for production of a construction package for all the six stations and associated parking lots.