The State - News from Feb. 13, 1987

Officials from five Central Valley counties have agreed to a joint effort to push for better Amtrak passenger rail service. “The trains are on the wrong track going to the wrong place at the wrong time,” complained Joe Francis of the Fresno County Rail Committee during a meeting of county representatives in Fresno. The counties agreed to form a task force made up of two members from each county plus representatives of the state and the railroad. The counties are Fresno, Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Madera. Among suggestions for better service is a proposal to route Amtrak on Southern Pacific tracks north of Fresno through Modesto and directly to Sacramento, where the train could turn south to Davis and Fairfield to San Jose. County officials also suggested that Stockton be made a railway hub, with one route going west through the Livermore Valley to Oakland, where it could hook up to Bay Area buses.