New Commuter Service Gets Off on Right Track

Dee Molina not only got to work a lot earlier Monday, she also took part in a bit of history.

While a conga line of cars queued up on the rain-splattered Santa Ana Freeway, Molina and scores of other Orange County residents were all aboard a sleek rail car on the inaugural journey of Orange County’s first commuter train service.

Lured by promises of timely service, a more hospitable departure schedule and ticket prices 20% less than the typical Amtrak fare, about 200 commuters hopped aboard the train in Orange County for the early morning journey to downtown Los Angeles. Several hundred more boarded the 5:45 p.m. train after work Monday for the return trip.

“This works much better for me,” Molina noted as she and other passengers watched the idling mass of cars poke along on the freeway Monday morning. Indeed, after the train chugged out of San Juan Capistrano at 6 a.m., it whisked Molina and the rest to Union Station in Los Angeles in only an hour and 15 minutes, arriving 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

For experienced commuters, the early arrival was a welcome precedent.

“We’re used to a variety of excuses for why the train is late,” noted Molina, who had been riding Amtrak for about eight months from her home in Dana Point to downtown Los Angeles.

Running from San Juan Capistrano to Union Station, with three intermediate stops in Orange County, the service features a morning and evening train. Regular Amtrak service will continue to run along the same line.

The new train is being funded by the Orange County Transportation Commission, which will pay Amtrak $1.8 million annually to run the five-car trains, each of which can carry 400 riders. Fares are better than Amtrak’s: $281 a month from San Juan Capistrano to Los Angeles, contrasted with Amtrak’s $352.

However, the train service will operate at a loss, with fares expected to cover about 60% of the cost and the rest coming from county revenues.

Amtrak has two heavily used morning trains to Los Angeles, but the earliest arrives at 7:55 a.m., too late for many workers.

OCTC officials also say their morning train should be far more punctual than Amtrak’s, which often falls behind schedule during the trip up from San Diego County. The commuter train is specifically designed for Orange County commuters and is scheduled to be waiting in San Juan Capistrano when passengers arrive each weekday morning for the departure north.

The afternoon train, meanwhile, is scheduled to allow workers just enough time to reach the station after the close of the business day.

Transportation Commission officials hope the new service is only the beginning, noting that 80% of the current train ridership from Orange County is made up of commuters bound for Los Angeles.

Monday’s historic first run of the commuter train was not without its festivities. San Juan Capistrano City Councilman Anthony L. Bland kicked off the day with the traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony before the train’s early departure from the city’s century-old depot. At the other end of the line, loudspeakers blared “Manic Monday” by the rock group the Bangles to welcome dignitaries and commuters alike.

Orange County Supervisor Thomas F. Riley, who is also OCTC chairman, called the occasion “Day One of our entry into the rail age.” By 1993, Amtrak and the Transportation Commission hope to add several more of the inter-county rail shuttles, Riley said.