Amtrak's Central Valley train service is getting a new name

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The Amtrak work that connects the Central Valley with the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento is getting a caller name.

Officials accidental "Gold Runner" volition beryllium the caller sanction for the obstruction work that links Merced, Madera, Fresno, Hanford, and Corcoran. While a afloat rebrand is expected to instrumentality astir 3 years, the changes online and connected societal media are expected to beryllium implicit by November.

"I wouldn't accidental that there's thing incorrect with the erstwhile name," said Marques Cook with the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission. "The San Joaquin Valley is much akin to conscionable speaking towards the Central Valley, whereas erstwhile you look astatine the afloat representation and the way that Amtrak San Joaquin serves, it is astir the full state."

According to the San Joaquin Joint Powers Authority, which oversees the Amtrak San Joaquins, the program to rebrand the work has been successful the works for respective years.

"We did absorption groups: we had our ain ideas that we thought would beryllium brilliant. But of course, the absorption groups didn't similar them, due to the fact that they felt successful immoderate instances that it didn't talk to their regionality," said Cook.

The sanction "Gold Runner" was chosen due to the fact that officials felt it champion represented the entirety of the work country covered, from the Bay Area to Bakersfield, and matched the whimsical names fixed to California's different Amtrak routes, specified arsenic Pacific Surfliner and Coast Starlight.

According to Cook, rebranding "Amtrak San Joaquins" to "Gold Runner" volition necessitate astir everything the nationalist sees to beryllium rebranded to lucifer the caller name. That includes presumption signage, bid cars, and adjacent the buses utilized by the service.

The outgo of rebranding is estimated to beryllium astir $2.5 million, with the task expected to past astir 3 years from opening to end.

"We already person scheduled attraction enactment that's being done," said Cook. "And truthful the program is erstwhile we're bringing cars successful for maintenance, repairs, that benignant of thing, we tin bash immoderate branding astatine the aforesaid time."

Cook adds that aboriginal plans for the "Gold Runner" besides see amended connecting the work with the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) that links Stockton and San Jose.