Antioch – Antioch will invest $ 375,000 to update its Amtrak station, just when the stop faces a possible closure.
On Tuesday, the Antioch City Council unanimously approved funds for a variety of improvements just when the nearby Oakley station is scheduled to be operational in 2027.
Antioch has been fighting to keep the Amtrak station open after the Board of the Joint Powers Authority of San Joaquín voted in March 2023 to dismantle the stop on Street I in favor of Oakley.
The administrator of the city of Antioch, Bessie Marie Scott, suggested that planned improvements can change the fate of the stations.
“It is not just because the stop has the dismantlation of the leg, it is Wors (we) because to keep it open for the next young years and then return to the joint powers in a couple of months to see that it will remain permanently,” Scott said. “We are only doing the updates that we needed anyway, for the area of its property owned by the city.”
Scott said there are some security groups and improvements in compliance with the American Law with disabilities that must be complete. She said about 100 residents take the train from the station every day.
The San Joaquín Joint Powers Authority, which supervises the passenger rail service between Oakland and Bakersfield, made the decision to close the Antioch station after complaints that passengers felt insecure.
The city officials said they were unsuspecting by the decision of the Board and that they have been pressing to keep it open.
Duration of a September 2024 meeting, Antioch residents and then Mayor Lamar Hernández-Thorpe said that the San Joaquin joint authority did not make a comprehensive commitment or analysis of the community on the impact of the closure.
On Tuesday night, the Director of Public Works of Antioch, Scott Buenting, presented a conceptual plan for the improvements and updates of the stations. The plan includes beautifying the tracks, planting new trees, fences and additional lighting.
“It is something that we believe would be a better time for the area and would give us a better opportunity to keep the Amtrak station in the future,” Buenting said.
Scott said that the beautification and update plans will be developed in consultation with Amtrak. Financing for improvements will come from the tax revenue to the city’s gasoline.
The member of the Louie Rocha Council said that many residents contacted and questioned if the city is doing enough to advocate the stop to remain in operation.
“I think this is a step in that direction,” Rocha said. “There is no guarantee, I know, but I think it’s the best we can do.”
Duration Public comment, some residents questioned the city’s plan to spend money on updates when there was no guarantee that the stop would remain in service.
The resident Andrew Becker said he attended the meetings of the Railway Authority of San Joaquín and had the impression that Antioch would not keep the station open in his current model.
“Why are we significantly spending dollars and time improving the station that we have no authority to maintain? It is not our decision,” Becker said. “We can go to another meeting, and we can be as much as we want, and the last mayor did, but it is not our decision unless other conversations were.”
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