- Description:
- Commuter rail system serving Ventura, LA, San Bernardino, Riverside, and Orange Counties and northern San Diego County.
- Vehicles:
- Bombardier
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Quick History
The third part of of the rail renaissance is commuter rail. Unlike heavy with its huge structures, and light rail with it flexibility, commuter rail fits into a very specific areas. They mostly operate on main line railroads.
Perhaps commuter rail should have been the first place that a major effort occurred. It operates on existing right of ways and only requires that passenger equipment but put on it. Many cities have huge train stations which if it were not for Amtrak, would have been closed down.
In California for example, they only commuter train until about 1990 was CalTrain between San Francisco and San Jose. This line was operated by California Department of Transportation (CalTrans). CalTrain has never been upgraded to the level that it deserves and there is constant debate over what to do with. It usually comes down to turn it into a BART line (expensive) or upgrade it piece meal (not so expensive)
Down in southern California, CalTrans funded additional Amtrak service between downtown Los Angeles and San Diego, called the San Diegans. While quite expensive, it was used by some commuters. OCTC (a predecessor or OCTA) even when as far as to fund an additional round trip, with CalTrain equipment from Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano.
In Los Angeles County props A and C had been taking taxpayer money since 1980 and 1983 respectively. The Blue Line was operating, but the Red and Green were still under construction. After taxes have poured in for so long why was there so little to show for it? In Riverside and San Bernardino Counties there was dedicated money for transportation development. Orange County had its extra train
In 1992, everything came together. Los Angeles, Ventura, Riverside, San Bernardino, and Orange Counties got together and formed Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA) is more commonly known as Metrolink. The first three lines were:
- Ventura County Line as far as Moorpark
- San Bernardino Line as far as Pomona
- Santa Clarita Line as far as Santa Clarita
Metrolink added The Riverside Line to Riverside (1993) and the OCTC sponsored train (1995), Inland Empire / Orange County (1996), and Via Fullerton (Los Angeles to Riverside via Fullerton)1. It is very important to emphase that there were very few trains; peak hour, peak direction only. Many stations did not exist. Furthermore, there was no Metro Red Line to transfer to.
Metrolink owns additional tracks. The former Santa Fe right of way from downtown Los Angeles to Port of Los Angeles is owned by Metrolink. The Green Line may use this eventually. Another Santa Fe line, this one from Pasadena to Montclair is also owned. The Pasadena Blue Line may be extended over that one. Sante Fe tracks from Riverside to Hemet are also owned. Last but not least, Southern Pacific track from Pomona to San Bernardino are owned. While it is not yet clear, there are plans and opportunities for additional stations and service.
Metrolink inspired additional projects. In San Diego County, NCTD operates Coaster from Oceanside to downtown San Diego. Altamont Commuter Express serves commuters from Stockton to San Jose. Vancouver, BC and Dallas, TX have new commuter rail systems.
1. It is really hard to say when the Via Fullerton line openned. As of mid 2001, it consisted of one reverse peak trip. It has no stations of its own. There is no printed schedule, it merely appears as footnotes on other schedules.
2. Don't Confuse Metrolink [sic] in Los Angeles with MetroLink[sic] in St. Louis
Movies
Movie(with sound) of Metrolink train at Orange station. (11.9 MB)
Movie(no sound) of Metrolink crossing Chapman Ave. near Orange station. (4.3 MB)
Movie(with sound) of Metrolink train at Orange station. This train is heading to San Bernardino (33.6 MB)
Union Station(with sound) as seen from a Green Line train (37.7 MB)
Metrolink train approaching Union Station on track 5
Jul 28, 1998
