The Tri-Valley – San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority took a step toward becoming the first California rail system to run on self-produced, green hydrogen, following the finalization of a purchase agreement with the city of Tracy for a parcel of land to build its hydrogen facility. The 200-acre property provides the critical land area needed to implement the green hydrogen production facility that will support the authority’s vision of sustainability for the Valley Link rail project, as well as support the clean energy goals of other transit and heavy truck operators in the region.
“Valley Link’s self-produced, green hydrogen will reduce the cost of the overall project operations for the public and offset state and federal transit subsidies,” said Veronica Vargas, chair of the authority’s Board of Directors. “The project’s vision also supports opportunities to create and sustain new living wage jobs in both the hydrogen fuel production and related renewable energy industries. This is good for both the economy and the environment.”
The 26-mile Valley Link Rail Project Phase 1 between the Dublin/Pleasanton Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station in Alameda County and the Mountain House station in San Joaquin County, will connect tens of thousands of Bay Area workers now commuting daily from their homes in communities in the Northern San Joaquin Valley – some of the state’s most disadvantaged communities located in one of the most polluted air basins in the United States.