BURBANK : Panel OKs Purchase of Train Depot

A Los Angeles County Transportation Commission committee on Thursday approved the city of Burbank’s proposed purchase of the Burbank Train Depot for $3.5 million to be used as a transit center and commuter rail station. The commission’s Planning and Mobility Improvement Committee voted to recommend that the commission at its June 27 meeting release the funds to the city to buy the depot from the Southern Pacific railroad. The money would be taken from the city’s share of the proceeds of the extra half-cent sales tax that county voters approved in 1980. The city hopes to connect the depot, located west of the Golden State Freeway, to its downtown shopping area by a pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks and the freeway. In addition to serving passengers from commuter trains from downtown to the Santa Clarita Valley and Ventura, the depot would be a center for bus service in Burbank, commission staff members said.