The Sacramento Regional Transit District (SacRT) was awarded two grants totaling $35 million from the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to improve the light rail system.

SacRT was awarded $25 million from the Solutions for Congested Corridor program to support the relocation of the light rail station and tracks at the Sacramento Valley Station to a northsouth alignment as part of the Railyard revitalization program and the future Sacramento Downtown Riverfront Streetcar project, which will offer rail service along 7th and 8th streets and N Street over Tower Bridge into West Sacramento. Future phases of the project include double tracking on 7th Street and a new station at Railyards Boulevard to better serve one of the nation’s largest infill development projects.

“The project to realign the SacRT light rail tracks will allow the planned Downtown Sacramento Streetcar line to use the Sacramento Valley Station,” said Sacramento Assemblymember Kevin McCarty. “That will add another mode of transit to what is already one of the busiest multimodal transit hubs in the region, and with the Railyards development nearby, it will only get busier.”

In an effort to reduce traffic congestion on Highway 50, part of the US 50 Gold Line Corridor Enhancement Project, SacRT received $10 million from the Local Partnership Program (LPP) to support modernizing the light rail station platforms along the Gold Line to meet the height requirements of the new low-floor light rail vehicles.

"The SacRT Board of Directors would like to thank the California Transportation Commission on the recent funding recommendations that will help accelerate SacRT's Light Rail Modernization Program,” said SacRT Chair and Sacramento County Supervisor Patrick Kennedy. “The County and SacRT's LPP Project modernizes the Hazel Avenue, Aerojet Road, and Folsom Boulevard interchanges with US 50 to reduce congestion and improve operations and supports the 29 Gold Line light rail station platforms to accommodate low-floor vehicles coming next summer."

“I would like to thank the California Transportation Commission for funding awards that will support a shift away from single-occupancy vehicle solutions while reducing congestion and increasing mobility throughout our region,” said SacRT General Manager/CEO Henry Li. “As our region works toward its ambitious climate goals, these improvements will make it more
convenient and easier to use public transit."

SacRT has secured nearly $400 million for the Light Rail Modernization Project, which includes the purchase of new low-floor trains, modifications to station platforms and adding a passing track to provide 15-minute service to Folsom area stations. SacRT has already purchased 28 vehicles from Siemens Mobility in South Sacramento and recently received funding to purchase an additional 16 new low-floor trains.

More information on the Light Rail Modernization Project is available at www.sacrt.com/modernization. More information on the Downtown Riverfront Streetcar project is available at riverfrontstreetcar.com/.