Robbins Sees Link to Amtrak as Way Out of Freeway Jam

Although he still faces significant obstacles, state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) is lining up local support for his plan to relieve congestion from Ventura Freeway construction by extending the route of Amtrak’s San Diegan to Simi Valley.

Robbins’ proposal calls for three San Diegan round trips to provide service from Simi Valley to downtown Los Angeles, with stops in Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Burbank and Glendale.

Robbins met Wednesday in Van Nuys with Burbank and Simi Valley officials who said their cities are enthusiastic about the plan. Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia) has joined Robbins in the effort to provide commuters with a facsimile of the former CalTrain commuter line, which was canceled in 1983 because of financial problems.

Earlier this month, Robbins, Davis, Sen. Wadie P. Deddeh (D-Chula Vista), chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee, and Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson asked the state Transportation Commission to subsidize the proposed service from freeway construction funds. The plan will be presented formally to the commission Oct. 14.

‘Living Hell’

Heavy congestion is predicted throughout the four-year freeway-widening project, scheduled to begin in December.

“It’s going to be a living hell,” Robbins said. “If we provide this service as an alternative to a heavily congested Ventura Freeway, at an initial cost of perhaps 50 cents a trip, ultimately going up to a dollar, I think we will get substantial ridership.”

Amtrak already is expected to begin operating one San Diegan train, which runs between San Diego and Los Angeles, to Santa Barbara by November, and part of Robbins’ plan would have that train make added stops in Ventura County and in the San Fernando Valley.

But the obstacles to the plan appear numerous.

“They’re talking about an operation that’s not in Amtrak’s purview,” Amtrak spokesman Arthur Lloyd said.

Amtrak’s mandate under federal law is to provide inter-city transportation, not commuter service, Lloyd said. A rail service with a fare as low as the one proposed by Robbins would almost certainly be considered a commuter line, making federal funds unavailable, he said.

“It is possible for Amtrak to do that, but only if we’re fully reimbursed and, with a much further constraint, we don’t have the equipment,” Lloyd said. “Every car we’ve got is in use.”

Southern Pacific spokesman Jim Loveland said the proposal probably would require “a pretty heavy capital investment” to lengthen parallel railroad tracks used to allow freight trains to get out of the way of the faster commuter trains.

Questions of Cost

“Who’s going to pay for those sidings?” Loveland asked.

Robbins said the cost might not be prohibitive and could be paid with state funds drawn from the freeway-construction project.

Aides to Robbins and Davis emphasized that the plan is in a formative stage and that a combination of state and federal funds, along with fare revenue, could pay for the service. The Southern California Assn. of Governments is studying how rail lines in the Santa Barbara-Los Angeles corridor might accommodate more trains, they said.

Another roadblock could be Gov. George Deukmejian’s policy of withholding state subsidies from inter-city and commuter rail lines that do not recoup a substantial percentage of their operating costs from fares.

Robbins said his plan to mitigate freeway congestion would be an exception, but he said, “We would have to convince the governor of that.”