By MONICA CANE
209 Living reporter
The Altamont Corridor Express better known as the ACE train, is a public traveling service geared towards passengers commuting to work or school in various cities between Stockton and San Jose.
In the late 1990s the rail service was created with 10 stations along an approximate 90-mile route to help commuters in the central valley travel toward the bay area with ease.
Presently the ACE stations are located in: Stockton, Lathrop-Manteca, Tracy, Vasco Road, Livermore, Pleasanton, Fremont, Great America, Santa Clara and San Jose with additional stations being considered in Manteca, Ripon, Ceres and Turlock.
Commuting by way of ACE is becoming more and more favorable due to the fact that the train is equipped with Wi-Fi allowing passengers to work on their laptops and enjoy movies and various apps on their phones or tablet devices while the driver of the train takes them to their destination.
Created for comfort, the commuter train is furnished with cloth covered seats with luxury foam cushions which are set in pairs or groups of four, with or without tables depending on a passengers need. Each ACE car has heating and air condition maintained at 70 degrees and offers dim lights for those passengers wanting to catch a few extra winks before work.
Other accommodations include the ability to purchase travel tickets for one day, a week or a month at a time at stations or online 24 hours a day. Bike stalls are available for passengers who incorporate their bicycle as part of their daily commute and a good size storage space is located beneath the seats for personal belongings. Every car has one restroom which is wheelchair accessible and also has room for service animals if need be.
Presently the ACE runs four westbound trains in the morning beginning in Stockton with travel times between 4 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. and four eastbound trains in the afternoon from San Jose with travel times between 3:30 to 9 p.m.
The train fees are destination based and affordable even more so when you consider how much gas along with wear and tear on your car you are saving. Children are not only welcome on the ACE but any child under the age of 5 accompanying a paying adult ride for free.
While certainly the ACE train offers many benefits as a public transportation, if you are not personally familiar with it, then the real question is, how do passengers commuting on the ACE actually like it?
Consulting a few ACE travelers whose commute time range from 30-minutes to over 2 hours, the response is consistently positive. Passengers love the ACE! Not having to worry about highway traffic, having extra time to get work done while someone else drives along with the ability to sit back, read book, unwind on the ride home, makes for a smooth and pleasant commute with passengers give the ACE a huge thumbs up.
If you are a commuter and have yet to try the ACE train, you may want to consider it. With free tickets for a two-day test ride available on the ACE website it is certain worth a try.
For more information about The Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) visit www.acerail.com or call 1-800-411-RAIL.
