LOCAL : 2 O.C.-to-L.A. Trains to Be Added
In a bid to relieve Santa Ana Freeway congestion, two passenger trains per day will be added in October to the eight serving Los Angeles-Orange County rail commuters, officials said today.
The action is expected to help relieve congestion on the Santa Ana Freeway during a massive $1.5-billion widening project scheduled to begin this fall.
Dana W. Reed, a member of the Orange County Transportation Commission, said that the two new trains will be financed through the California Department of Transportation and that Amtrak will operate them under contract.
Such a contract avoids legal problems involving congressional bans on Amtrak’s use of federal subsidies for local commuter rail service, officials said.
Although details are being worked out, officials said one of the new trains would arrive in Los Angeles at 7:30 a.m., half an hour earlier than the first train arrives there now. The other new train will leave Los Angeles at 4:15 p.m. for Orange County, 30 minutes ahead of the current schedule.
Tentative plans are for the train to originate and terminate in San Clemente.
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