Countywide : Stalled Negotiations Sidetrack Rail Plan

Efforts to expand commuter train service between Los Angeles and Orange counties and extend it into San Bernardino and Riverside counties are stalled because government officials and the Santa Fe railroad cannot agree on the value of 242 miles of track, both sides said Friday.

Officials from Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties Friday accused Santa Fe of attempting a “train robbery in reverse” by demanding $1.3 billion--more than the price of all the company’s stock--for only 2% of its track.

Santa Fe Railway Vice President Robert Edwards shot back that the company’s initial offer was just that--”an initial offer . . . not a demand”--and was based on comparable sales of other railroad rights of way.

The disagreement over price threatens to scuttle Orange County’s plan to put eight of its own commuter trains a day on the Santa Fe tracks. As part of that plan, new depots would be built in Buena Park, Tustin and either Laguna Hills or Mission Viejo. Currently, there are stations in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Anaheim and Fullerton. They are served by eight Amtrak trains and a county-sponsored commuter train.

The price gap between the two sides is enormous. Including Ventura County, the five counties that have formed a regional rail agency have offered $300 million for the 242 miles of track. Santa Fe has offered to sell the track for $1.3 billion--if it can keep the mineral rights, lay cables and pipelines underground and build structures overhead.

At stake are key elements of the region’s proposed commuter rail system, including track from San Diego through Orange County to Union Station, as well as track from San Bernardino and Riverside to Anaheim. Also at stake is track from San Bernardino to Los Angeles that parallels track being bought from Southern Pacific Railroad.

Commuter rail officials agreed last fall to buy 174 miles of track from Southern Pacific for $450 million. In addition to the line from Union Station to San Bernardino, that includes track to Santa Monica, northwest through the San Fernando Valley to Moorpark, and to the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Southern Pacific deal, also the product of difficult negotiations, is not threatened by the impasse between transportation officials and Santa Fe.

Neil Peterson, executive director of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission, said negotiations for the track have stopped, but both sides stress that the talks have not been severed.

“We haven’t broken off negotiations,” said Peterson, whose agency was selected by the five counties to acquire the railroad rights of way, “but we have told them we don’t see the point of continuing negotiations if they’re not going to be reasonable.”

Edwards said his railroad, which supports commuter trains, is being reasonable but must balance the public good with its financial responsibilities.