Caltrans to Add More Trains, Stops to Daily Rail Service

Caltrans announced Friday it is extending rail service to the San Fernando Valley, Ventura County and Santa Barbara Oct. 28, adding a second daily train that will carry passengers to and from San Diego and Los Angeles.

Under an agreement signed with Amtrak, there will now be both morning and evening trains between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, in addition to the traditional Coast Starlight, the long-distance service that carries Los Angeles-Seattle passengers along the same route.

Caltrans, the state Department of Transportation, said the new northbound Santa Barbara morning train will leave San Diego at 5:02 a.m. and Los Angeles at 8:20 a.m., arriving in Santa Barbara at 10:55 a.m.

The northbound evening service that began in 1988 will continue leaving San Diego at 4:50 p.m. and Los Angeles at 8 p.m., arriving in Santa Barbara at 10:30 p.m.

Southbound morning service will depart Santa Barbara at 7:50 a.m., arriving in Los Angeles at 10:30 a.m. and San Diego at 1:37 p.m. Afternoon service will depart Santa Barbara at 3:25 p.m., arrive in Los Angeles at 6 p.m. and Santa Diego at 9:07 p.m.

Stops by the six- to 14-car trains will be made at Oxnard, Simi Valley, Chatsworth, Van Nuys, the Burbank Airport, Glendale, Los Angeles, Fullerton, Anaheim, Santa Ana, San Juan Capistrano, Oceanside and Del Mar, with stops in the city of Ventura scheduled to begin next spring when station construction is completed there.

These trains are part of what Amtrak calls its San Diegans, eight trains a day each way between Los Angeles and San Diego carrying 1.5 million passengers a year. It is the second most-traveled intercity rail corridor in the United States.

The number of trains between Los Angeles and San Diego will not be increased in the new schedule. One more train a day each way will simply be extended to Santa Barbara.

Cindy McKim, head of the rail division at Caltrans, said ridership has been so heavy on the Santa Barbara train inaugurated two years ago that service costs have been more than fully recovered through passenger fares. That’s a comparative rarity in Amtrak service, although San Diegan service as a whole also pays its own way.

In the 1989-90 fiscal year, McKim said, 52,470 passengers rode the southbound train segment between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, while 47,253 passengers rode the northbound train.

Caltrans also announced a promotional fare for the service. The special fare will begin Oct. 28 and run through April 30, with some blackout periods around the holidays.

The one-way Los Angeles-Santa Barbara fare is normally $18. During the promotion, a same-day round trip will be sold for only $1 more, $19. For trips not completed the same day, the round trip will be $25.

The one-way San Diego-Santa Barbara fare is $29.50. During the promotion, a round trip completed the same day will be $30.50, and a round trip completed in more than one day will be $36.50.

Announcement of the expansion of service comes at a time when the passage of $3 billion in rail bonds by the California electorate and new spending priorities by the California Transportation Commission has raised the prospect of vastly increased commuter and inter-city rail service in Southern California in the next few years.

In recent weeks, for example, transportation officials have announced plans to introduce commuter rail service by 1993 between Los Angeles and such points as Orange County, San Bernardino, Santa Clarita and Oxnard. Commuter service also is envisioned in the next few years between San Diego and Oceanside and between Riverside and Santa Ana.

Although these projects are part of the state’s seven-year transportation plan, officials have cautioned that in many cases local funds are required to provide operating subsidies and some capital investments, which raises doubts about whether the plans will be realized, or realized on time. Federal funds also may be required to help develop certain lines.

Another impediment could be a shortage of rail cars. The supply has been tight nationwide.