Deukmejian OKs Diverting Funds for Rail Service

A bill to divert an estimated $3 million from the Metro Rail subway in the San Fernando Valley to operate a commuter rail service was signed into law Wednesday by Gov. George Deukmejian.

The bill, which overwhelmingly passed both houses of the Legislature, also delays to Sept. 29, 1989, the start of subway tunneling between Universal City and North Hollywood.

The commuter service, which would operate on Southern Pacific railroad tracks, would consist of two round trips daily between Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and either Simi Valley or Oxnard.

Proposed stops for the 500-passenger trains are at Burbank, Van Nuys and Chatsworth.

State Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Van Nuys) proposed the line last year as a way to relieve congestion during widening of the Ventura Freeway, which began in February and is expected to be completed in mid-1990.

The bill replaced a 1984 law that required the Southern California Rapid Transit District to have begun tunneling north of Universal City by Sept. 29, 1987.

Deadline Passed

RTD officials let the deadline pass after Robbins, author of the original law, said he would introduce legislation granting the delay.

Residents of Studio City and North Hollywood asked for the postponement, saying that the noise and congestion of construction should be avoided until it is certain when the Valley leg of Metro Rail can be connected to downtown.

The 1984 law also required the RTD to spend $74 million over the next seven years for the tunneling, which would extend from Universal City to Metro Rail’s northern terminus at Chandler and Lankershim boulevards in North Hollywood.

Under the bill signed into law Wednesday, the $74 million would be placed in a trust fund and the interest would be used to subsidize the commuter rail line while the freeway is being widened.

California Transportation Commission staff members have estimated that the fund would earn $3 million over the two years.

A preliminary report by the staff in January indicated the service would need that amount during its first two years.