is a
Commuter Rail system that serves the
Southern California region. In 1991, it was established as the '''Southern California Regional Rail Authority''' (SCRRA) and service began the following year. In 2003, it had an operating budget of $103.3 million. Since July 2005, Metrolink has been operated under contract by
Connex Railroad, LLC . The contract extends for a period of five years and includes the provision of locomotive engineers and conductors. Prior to July 2005, Metrolink was operated under contract by
Amtrak .
Metrolink's area of service includes lines to
Ventura County ,
Los Angeles County ,
San Bernardino County ,
Riverside County ,
Orange County , and
San Diego County . It connects to the
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Metro Rail lines at
Union Station in
Downtown Los Angeles , and to the
San Diego Coaster at
Oceanside . It also connects at various points to
Amtrak 's
Pacific Surfliner ,
Coast Starlight , and
Southwest Chief services. Metrolink riders can ride most buses in Los Angeles and Orange County, as well as the Metro Rail, for free with their valid ticket or pass, and monthly pass holders in Orange and Ventura Counties can use Amtrak Pacific Surfliner and Thruway Coach services through the Rail 2 Rail program.
As of early 2006, it served a total of 56 stations throughout the
Greater Los Angeles Area , with its central hub at Los Angeles Union Station. The average weekday ridership for September 2005 was 40,078 boardings Metrolink (2005). "
Metrolink Performance Summaries, September 2005 ." Retrieved October 3, 2005.. Ridership has grown at 3-4% per year since opening; Orange County ridership grew 30% from 2002 to 2005.
The main Metrolink maintenance and storage facility is located on the east bank of the
Los Angeles River in the vicinity of the Glendale Narrows, just south of
Union Pacific's Taylor Yard . The system covers 511.6
Mile s (823.3
Km ) of track, some portions of which were purchased by Metrolink from freight railroads, while other sections are still owned by freight railroads. Both the publicly and privately owned routes share track with freight trains, and many sections are single track, limiting Metrolink's ability to expand service. Delays are particularly common on the Riverside Line, which uses UP's main transcontinental line--one of the most congested freight rail corridors in the United States. Construction projects to expand capacity have been gradually undertaken since Metrolink began operation.
As of December 2003, Metrolink had 38
Locomotive s and 143
Commuter Cars . All current trains are
Bombardier BiLevel Coach es painted white with blue streaks. Some locomotives and train cars are leased from the
Sounder commuter train system in the
Puget Sound region of
Washington state, since that system uses the same Bombardier equipment. These trains can be recognized by their retention of the Sounder "wave" livery instead of the standard Metrolink colors. In addition, a train set from
Altamont Commuter Express is kept as a backup at the Metrolink yard and is occasionally seen in service.
Metrolink's fares are high compared to its peers and to competing bus service. For instance, a round trip ticket between
Montclair and
Downtown Los Angeles is $12.50, compared with $7.00 for competing
Foothill Transit express bus service (via carpool lanes and the
El Monte Busway ) between the two destinations. Similarly, monthly passes are higher than competing bus systems. A monthly pass for the bus between the
Palmdale Metrolink station and
Los Angeles Union Station costs $210, compared to $260 on Metrolink. (The high fares, however, give Metrolink one of the highest
Farebox Recovery Rates of any commuter rail service.)
In addition, despite the dedicated right of way of a train compared to a bus, scheduled times are often comparable because of carpool lanes and the number of station stops. In particular, there are sections of the Antelope Valley Line where due to the number of curves, the train travels at speeds of about 45-50 mph, slower than the bus. When transfer time is factored in, commuter bus service can often beat the train, although the train offers more midday trips than commuter bus lines.
Like many US commuter rail systems, Metrolink lacks off-peak service—a characteristic which may also hurt ridership numbers. Between approximately 9 AM and 3 PM and between 9 PM and 5 AM there are few trains on most lines, even those (such as the Antelope Valley line) that have very high peak-hour ridership. Some of these attributes can be ascribed to the structure of Metrolink's governance board, derived as a Joint Powers Authority of the five transportation commissions of the counties in its service area:
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ,
Orange County Transportation Authority , Riverside County Transportation Commission, Ventura County Transportation Commission and San Bernardino Associated Governments (with representatives of the
San Diego Association Of Governments , the Southern California Association of Governments and the California Secretary of Business, Transportation and Housing Agency as non-voting ex-officio members of the board). Each of the 5 member agencies fund the portion of service that operates in their jurisdiction, mostly with monies derived from locally approved dedicated sales taxes (except in the case of Ventura County). Metrolink also occasionally gets some direct funding from the state and federal governments via earmarks in appropriation legislation, although this often calls for a delicate act of political balancing as local agencies tend to fret whether monies for the regional service could instead be eligible for funding the operation of transit service in their area. The inherent conflict of interest of the Board structure partially explains the high fares.
Future plans call for line expansions extending the service area. The Perris Valley Line will link , July 9, 2005..
In addition, Los Angeles County-area transit advocates have proposed adding Metrolink service along the
Harbor Subdivision corridor, so as to provide Metrolink service to
Inglewood ,
Los Angeles International Airport , and the
South Bay . Proponents argue that this could provide direct service between the South Bay, LAX, and Union Station, and possibly continue into the San Fernando Valley, though they also envision that a Metro Rail line could run in the corridor as well. Opponents argue that frequently running fast moving trains along busy Slauson Avenue, through a residential area, is potentially dangerous.
In mid-March of 2002, a southbound train collided at a grade crossing about one half mile west of the cross streets of east Cerritos Avenue and south
State College Boulevard in
Anaheim with a
Semi Truck carrying lettuce bound for a produce distributor near said crossing. The truck driver was using the rail grade as to navigate his truck into the docks for the produce company when the train collided with the truck's joint at about 35 miles per hour, killing the driver and derailing the locomotive and the frontmost passenger car. No passengers or train crew were injured in this accident.
On
April 23 ,
2002 , a
BNSF Railway freight train collided head-on with a Metrolink train in
Placentia , near the
Atwood Junction , at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Van Buren Street. Both trains were on the same east-west track moving toward one another. The Metrolink had the right-of-way; it was supposed to switch to a southbound track. The BNSF train was supposed to slow and stop just before the switch while the Metrolink passed, but the crew missed a signal one and a half miles back warning them to slow down. By the time the crew saw the red "stop" signal at the switch and the Metrolink train, they were going too fast to avoid a collision. Although there was speculation that the signals alerting the Burlington to slow and stop had malfunctioned, an investigation later concluded that it was human error by the crew that caused the accident. Two people died in the crash and twenty-two were seriously injured National Transportation Safety Board (2003).
"Railroad Accident Report- Collision of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Freight Train With Metrolink Passenger Train- Placentia, California- April 23, 2002". Retrieved November 22, 2005..
On
January 26 ,
2005 , two Metrolink passenger trains were derailed in the worst train accident in Metrolink's history. A southbound Metrolink train derailed when it hit a vehicle parked on the tracks near an at-grade crossing at Chevy Chase Drive. The train struck a stationary freight locomotive (overturning it) and jackknifed, colliding with an oncoming northbound Metrolink train which also derailed. Eleven people were killed (including an off-duty sheriff's deputy and a train conductor) and over 100 people were injured, about 40 seriously. The man who parked the vehicle on the tracks,
Juan Manuel Alvarez , was apprehended and charged with 11 counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including murder by train wrecking. At the time of this writing, he is awaiting trial in the
Los Angeles Superior Court .
