IRVINE : 3rd Morning Train Added to Schedule

People in this city who commute by train to Los Angeles will get a bonus starting next week when a third northbound train will begin making morning stops at Irvine Station, Amtrak announced Friday.

A stop in Irvine at 6:50 a.m. will supplement existing morning stops, an Amtrak spokesman said. Under the new plan, trains will stop at 6:15 a.m., 6:50 a.m. and 7:58 a.m. in Irvine, arriving in Los Angeles at 7:25 a.m., 7:58 a.m. and 9:05 a.m. respectively.

The additional train is the result of a tiff between the railroad and some San Diego County passengers who commute to work in Irvine.

A few weeks ago, Amtrak announced that it would drop the 7:58 a.m. train stop in Irvine and add the 6:50 a.m. stop, figuring that Irvine commuters would prefer two chances to board trains that arrive in Los Angeles before the business day begins.

That news angered San Diego County residents who were using the Amtrak train to commute to jobs in the Irvine area.

Ron Scolaro, Amtrak’s western regional administrator for governmental affairs, said the agency received about 20 phone calls and letters from commuters miffed that the later Irvine train stop was going to be discontinued.

By the time the protest was under way, the agency had already cemented plans to shift the train schedules, Scolaro said.

Instead of simply reverting back to the old schedule, Amtrak added the third stop in Irvine, he said.

Heart And Sole Classic Traffic on several Irvine streets will be stopped during today’s Heart and Sole Classic-5-K,10-K and 25-K runs to benefit the American Heart Assn. The event begins at 6:30 a.m. at Jamboree Center on Jamboree Road north of the San Diego Freeway. All of Maine St. closed between Jamboree and Harvard 6:30 a.m. to after 9:30 a.m.