The Stockton Diamond is a

railway junction A junction, in the context of rail transport, is a place at which two or more rail routes converge or diverge. The physical connection between the tracks of the two routes (assuming they are of the same gauge) is provided by turnouts (US: switc ...

just south of downtown

Stockton, California Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County, California, San Joaquin County in the Central Valley (California), Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. It is the most populous city in the county, the List of municipal ...

, near the intersection of Aurora Street South and East Scotts Avenue. It is the junction where the north–south running

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

Fresno Subdivision The Fresno Subdivision is a railroad in California owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. Mostly built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in the 1870s, the line traverses the San Joaquin Valley on a northwest to southeast alignment. Ro ...

line crosses the east–west

BNSF BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that provide ...

Stockton Subdivision The Stockton Subdivision is a railroad line in the U.S. state of California owned by the BNSF Railway. It runs from the Port of Richmond, where trains interchange with the Richmond Pacific Railroad, to Fresno where the railway continues south a ...

, both

double-track railway A double-track railway usually involves running one track in each direction, compared to a single-track railway where trains in both directions share the same track. Overview In the earliest days of railways in the United Kingdom, most lin ...

s. Freight trains operate through the intersection 24 hours a day;

Altamont Corridor Express The Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs. Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional R ...

and

Amtrak California Amtrak California is a brand name used by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) Division of Rail for three state-supported Amtrak regional rail routes in Californiathe ''Capitol Corridor'', the ''Pacific Surfliner'', and the ...

San Joaquins The ''San Joaquins'' is a state-supported passenger train service operated by Amtrak in California's San Joaquin Valley. As of 2025, the service operates seven daily round trips between its southern terminus at Bakersfield and Stockton. Of the ...

'' passenger trains also utilize the junction. Two of the sides of the "diamond" are complete and allow interchanges between the north-east and south-west legs.

Grade separation

By 2020 the junction was the most congested in California, with the level-crossing design contributing to delays throughout the state's rail network. As part of the Valley Rail project, the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission (SJRRC) and the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...

(Caltrans) will

grade separate In civil engineering (more specifically highway engineering), grade separation is a method of aligning a junction of two or more surface transport axes at different heights (grades) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on other trans ...

the intersection, which will add capacity for future passenger rail expansion and reduce crossing interference. The Union Pacific line will be elevated above the BNSF line; construction is scheduled to start in 2023 and planned to complete in May 2026. The north–south flyover tracks will be constructed approximately to the east of the existing UP Fresno Subdivision, from the UP Stockton Yard to the at-grade crossing at Weber Avenue. Tracks will begin to rise at Lafayette Street and return to grade after Charter Way; a large retaining wall will be constructed between Charter and Church. Road traffic on Charter, Hazelton, and Scotts will be grade-separated under new rail bridges, while the existing at-grade crossings at Church and Lafayette would be closed. When complete, the project also will finish all four sides of the diamond.

References

External links

* Transportation buildings and structures in San Joaquin County, California Buildings and structures under construction in the United States Rail junctions in the United States BNSF Railway Union Pacific Railroad 2026 in rail transport Stockton, California {{US-rail-transport-stub

Grade separation

See also

References

External links