Antioch Amtrak station may remain open, mayor says
The Antioch Amtrak train station that was in danger of closing might remain open, says the city's mayor.
After meeting with officials from the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, the body that oversees intercity passenger rail service in the area, and the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, which works in collaboration with SJJPA, Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe announced Tuesday that hope for keeping the Antioch-Pittsburg station open was not lost.
Hernandez-Thorpe and city staff will present a plan to SJJPA during a public meeting on Sept. 20 before returning to the Antioch City Council for further discussion and decisions in early October.
"We're still working out the details, but I think I can safely say that some of it will include some landscaping upgrades, extra security that we can provide as a city and coming up with fare zones, meaning you can only be there if you have a ticket," he said. "The City Council has to be agreeable to some of these things. As an example, extra security means the money's got to come from something."
The announcement comes months after public outcry and a May protest at the station on I Street as community members learned the SJJPA voted in March 2023 to close the train station amid concerns of vandalism, safety issues, fare evasion and unhoused individuals using the area for shelter. When a new station in Oakley opens in August 2025, the Antioch station at present is simultaneously set to close.
Advocacy groups like Reimagine Antioch, Rising Juntos and Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Action said the decision was made quietly and would impact access to travel for people of color, low-income residents and those with disabilities.
Amtrak currently connects Antioch riders to commuter destinations in the west and places throughout the nation. Protesters expressed dismay that the train service would bypass their city for the more affluent one next door.
SJRRC spokesperson David Lipari in May said the Antioch station was likely to close once construction on the new Oakley station was completed, noting the infeasibility of keeping both stations open. However, SJJPA chair Patrick Hume on Tuesday explained that, if the city puts together an actionable plan to address the safety challenges at the Antioch station, SJJPA would request an exemption on Antioch's behalf with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which owns rail tracks used by various train services, including Amtrak.
"Those two stations are too close together, according to BNSF standards," said Hume. "Apparently, there is an opportunity, or at least it never hurts to ask, whether or not we could talk them down from being so stringent."
Hume described his trip to Antioch on Monday, saying he took account of the numerous passengers waiting at the station that could one day close.
"We don't ever want to create a situation where we have alienated or stranded riders," Hume said. "So with that fresh in my mind, I went into the meeting with the city manager and the mayor and expressed that there were some untenable and unsustainable situations happening with respect to the overall safety for the ridership as well as for staff that we can't ignore from a liability standpoint. But what we did say is, look, if the city can come forward with some tangible, actionable things to do that would make the situation easier to enforce good behavior, we will advocate on their behalf with BNSF."
Hernandez-Thorpe said Tuesday that opening lines of communication between the rail authority and the city, along with added improvements to invigorate the area—should the council agree to them—is the beginning of paving a path forward for saving the station many in the community have come to rely upon for transportation needs.
"Although I am optimistic, we must continue to support keeping the station open," he said. "I want to thank SJJPA Chair Pat Hume and SJRRC Chair Nancy Young for visiting the Antioch station yesterday and meeting with city staff and me regarding this important matter."
