6 Lesser-Known Rail Proposals Also Receive Agencies’ Study : Transit: Monorail, light rail and additions to existing rail routes have been suggested along with the approved Metro Rail extension.

The proposed Metro Rail extension from North Hollywood to Van Nuys, approved last month by county transit officials, has hogged center stage in recent years, but six other San Fernando Valley rail proposals are under consideration by public and private agencies.

The availability of construction money and the perception by elected officials that the public supports congestion-relieving rail systems has brought a flood of rail feasibility studies.

If all the proposed systems were built--which even the most optimistic rail proponents say is unlikely any time soon--the Valley would have a rail grid serving all but the southwest corner.

The 5.6-mile Metro Rail extension, which won out over half a dozen proposals in a culling process that began in 1983, was approved March 28 by the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. The extension would run from Van Nuys to the North Hollywood Metro Rail terminus.

The six other rail plans being studied are:

* Union Station to the city of Ventura, using existing Southern Pacific railroad tracks that cross the Valley from Burbank to Chatsworth.

* Union Station to Santa Clarita along Southern Pacific tracks that parallel San Fernando Road.

* Los Angeles International Airport to Sylmar along the San Diego Freeway.

* Sylmar to Palmdale along the Antelope Valley Freeway.

* A Burbank monorail system.

* A Union Station-to-Glendale light-rail line.

A desire by public officials to tie into a possible network of privately financed rail lines is at least partly the impetus for three of the studies--LAX to Sylmar, Sylmar to Palmdale and Union Station to Santa Clarita. The county Transportation Commission is paying for the studies of the airport-Sylmar and Santa Clarita routes; the city of Los Angeles Department of Airports is paying to study the Sylmar-Palmdale route.

All three studies were authorized after a bi-state commission in October invited bids for a $4-billion super-speed train system that, if investors can be found, would be built from Anaheim to Las Vegas with a possible leg to Palmdale. The Palmdale branch would be constructed only if the city or the county builds a rail link to Los Angeles.

Officials hope to have the three studies ready when they begin talks with whatever private firm wins the contract to build the 300 m.p.h. California-Nevada Super Speed Train. The deadline for bidding on that line is July 15.

Another motive for studying the routes is Los Angeles’ desire to expand use of city-owned Palmdale Airport to relieve congestion at LAX.

Rail planners say the three routes might be built to be traveled by super-speed trains, which would be slowed to accommodate the stop-and-go needs of a commuter system.

In addition to being considered as extensions of the super-speed system, the LAX-Sylmar and Union Station-Santa Clarita corridors are being looked at as possible routes for light-rail lines. The feasibility of a commuter rail line--using existing tracks and conventional intercity rail passenger cars--also is being studied along the Union Station-Santa Clarita route.

The cost of the study of light rail along the LAX-to-Sylmar route is being split by the Airports Department and the Transportation Commission; the cost of the Santa Clarita light-rail study is being shared by the city of Los Angeles and the county.

The Union Station-Ventura commuter line that is being studied would revive a system that operated for 4 1/2 months in 1983 before it was canceled for lack of demand.

Proponents, including state Sen. Alan Robbins (D-Tarzana), predict that because of increased freeway congestion since 1983, the line will enjoy substantial ridership. The commuter line study is being coordinated by the county Transportation Commission using state and local funds.

The study of the Glendale-to-downtown light-rail line was undertaken at that city’s request.

Although the line is included in the 150-mile system that the county Transportation Commission is building using the extra half-cent sales tax that county voters approved in 1980, the commission has given construction of the Glendale line a low priority.

As a result, the city of Glendale agreed to underwrite the cost of the feasibility study, which is being conducted by the commission.

Glendale officials hope that the results will bolster their arguments for moving the city up the priority list or will help justify a city contribution to help get the line built sooner.

The Burbank monorail, which would link downtown Burbank, the city’s Media District and the Burbank Airport to the Metro Rail system, is being studied at the behest of county Supervisor Mike Antonovich. The county Board of Supervisors is to pay part of the cost of the study and the city of Burbank is considering paying for the rest.

In addition to the Metro Rail Valley extension, and the six other lines for which studies have been authorized, two other rail proposals are on the drawing boards.

Those proposals, which arose during the Metro Rail deliberations, would connect Warner Center to the downtown Metro Rail subway at Universal City. One of those proposals envisions a monorail along the Ventura Freeway’s south shoulder. The other would provide a subway beneath Ventura Boulevard.

County transportation commissioners authorized both studies at the behest of influential proponents. Nicholas Patsaouras, a Southern California Rapid Transit District board member, requested the study of the Ventura Boulevard subway, and Antonovich asked for a study of the monorail system.

Unlike the other six rail lines being studied, the Ventura Boulevard subway and Ventura Freeway monorail would be built only if a commission reversed its approval of the North Hollywood-to-Van Nuys Metro Rail extension.

RAIL ROUTES UNDER STUDY 1. Commuter rail from Union Station to Ventura on existing Southern Pacific railroad tracks that cross the San Fernando Valley diagonally from Burbank to Chatsworth. Possible stops: Glendale, Burbank, Van Nuys, Northridge, Chatsworth, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Oxnard. Most stations already in place. A preliminary study is completed, and planners are assembling equipment and negotiating with Southern Pacific for track rights. If scarce rail cars are secured, could be operating as early as 1991.

2. Union Station to Santa Clarita along Southern Pacific right-of-way paralleling San Fernando Road. This corridor is being studied for commuter rail trains that would use existing tracks, for a light-rail system that would be built alongside existing tracks and for a high-speed line, possibly using some sort of futuristic technology, that would go all the way to the Los Angeles-owned Palmdale Airport. It would connect there to a proposed high-speed system to Las Vegas. Report is expected in August.

3. Los Angeles International Airport to Sylmar along the San Diego Freeway. The 405 corridor is under study for a rail system that could accommodate, on the same tracks, a high-capacity light-rail line that would be a northern extension of the under-construction Century Freeway light-rail line, as well as a high-speed system to carry passengers to and from Palmdale Airport. Study expected to be completed in August.

4. Sylmar to Palmdale along the Antelope Valley Freeway. The proposed high-speed line would carry commuters, passengers bound for Palmdale Airport and possibly also riders headed for Las Vegas on the proposed super-speed line between Nevada and Southern California. Report is expected in August.

5. A Burbank monorail system. The proposed line would link downtown Burbank, the city’s Media District and Burbank Airport to the downtown-to-North Hollywood Metro Rail subway. Study expected to take about four months.

6. A Glendale light-rail line. As with the proposed downtown-to-Sylmar light-rail line, a Glendale line would use the Southern Pacific right-of-way that parallels San Fernando Road. Seven alternatives, including buses and streetcars, are under study for bringing riders to the Glendale Amtrak Station, from where they would board light-rail cars. Study scheduled for completion in September.