16 Apr ‘We Should Do Everything We Can to Keep That Station Open’: Antioch Makes Move to Improve Amtrak Stop Set for Closure

The Antioch City Council on April 8 dedicated more money to improving the town’s Amtrak station in hopes of keeping it from closing. (Screenshot captured by Samantha Kennedy / The CC Pulse)

By Samantha Kennedy

Advocates say the decommissioning of the Antioch-Pittsburg Amtrak station won’t be pretty, but officials believe the station will be — and it could help the stop get a reprieve.

The Antioch City Council on April 8 committed $225,000 more to station upgrades to beautify the area months after former Mayor Lamar Hernandez-Thorpe put forward a plan, which included landscaping upgrades, to stop the decommissioning.

“I would like to do anything we can to improve that area and make sure that it’s viable and attractive for people coming in and out of Antioch with the hopes ultimately of keeping the station open,” said Mayor Ron Bernal. “We should do everything we can to keep that station open and operable, and this is a step in that direction.”

The improvements mean the station, which was set to be decommissioned this year, could continue to operate for the next three years — and permanently, if approved — said City Manager Bessie Scott.

The San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, the body that oversees rail service for the station, voted two years ago to decommission the stop once the Oakley stop opens. SJJPA cited safety issues, unhoused residents using the station for shelter, vandalism, and fare evasion as reasons for the closure.

Advocates and officials say a closure of the station would immediately disadvantage the community, especially low-income residents, people with disabilities and people of color.

Daily ridership for the station is around 80, according to the city, and connects riders to cities in the Central Valley and elsewhere that are otherwise not accessible by public transportation.

Scott said the station’s ridership is not the lowest of all stations but somewhere in the middle. In 2023, ridership for the station was 27,985, more than stations for Hayward and the Oakland Airport but less than Richmond.

The planned improvements are transit shelters, new fencing, trees and shrubbery that would “positively impact rider experience,” officials said.

Advocates, many from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Rising Juntos and Reimagine Antioch, also say the decision to close the stop was a surprise and done without community input.

But the planned improvements don’t guarantee the station will remain open. Scott said they still will have to go to the SJJPA in the next few months.

“We can have the Amtrak shut down now, or we can do these improvements and have access to it for the next three years and potentially go back to the table,” council member Tamisha Torres-Walker.

The two residents who spoke opposed the allocation, which now totals $375,000 with previous funding, because they felt it could be put to better use if the station would be closing.

The completion date for the Oakley station has been pushed back over the last five years, according to previous reports. Initially set to be completed in 2020, it has been delayed to 2022, 2024, then 2025. Antioch officials say it’s now set to be finished in 2027.

Council members formally opposed the closure last year and asked the SJJPA to “explore all possible alternatives to keep the station open and operable.”

Council members approved the allocation unanimously.

The next Antioch City Council meeting is April 22.