Local News in Brief : Panel OKs $2.1-Million Budget for Rail Study

A $2.1-million budget for the study of San Fernando Valley rail routes was approved Monday by the Transit Committee of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.

The study will consider three Valley routes and two types of technology. It is scheduled to be completed by next October and to serve as a basis for selection of a route by the commission.

The commission, which already has approved the study, is scheduled to approve the budget at its Nov. 30 meeting.

Three options to be studied would use the Southern Pacific railroad right of way that parallels Chandler and Victory boulevards from North Hollywood to Warner Center: An all-subway extension of the downtown-to-North Hollywood Metro Rail subway; a Metro Rail extension that is subway in residential areas but is placed in a deep trench or elevated in other areas, and a light-rail trolley line placed in a shallow trench flanked by earthen berms.

Also to be studied is an elevated Metro Rail extension along the Ventura Freeway from Universal City to Warner Center.

Included in the budget is $200,000 to study the feasibility of a trolley from Sylmar to downtown, parallel to San Fernando Road. However, that portion of the study should be dropped unless the city and county of Los Angeles agree to pay its full cost, committee members said.