State Gives Tentative OK to Moorpark Amtrak Stop

State transportation officials have tentatively climbed on board a proposal to add a Moorpark stop to Amtrak’s Los Angeles to Santa Barbara line, Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard announced Thursday.

Although the proposal is still subject to Amtrak approval, Howard said she did not anticipate any major problems.

If all goes as planned, an Amtrak official said, service could begin by April for a one-year trial.

“This is very significant” for east county residents, said Howard, who has been working with Caltrans officials for several months to establish an Amtrak stop in Moorpark.

Moorpark Mayor Paul Lawrason, who has also worked with Howard in getting the Amtrak service, said he is “extremely pleased. It’s really happening.”

Lathon Wells, a spokesman for Caltrans, said that before the agency can make a recommendation to Amtrak for final approval of the Moorpark stop, the city must bring its existing platform station up to state standards.

The station was built in 1980 when Moorpark was a designated stop on a short-lived commuter service linking Ventura and Los Angeles counties.

Lawrason said the city will have to enlarge the platform and its parking facilities to meet state requirements.

But he said the city had already been planning improvements in anticipation of a new commuter rail line that will link Moorpark and Simi Valley with downtown Los Angeles beginning in November, 1992.

Lawrason said improvements to the station could begin by early next year.

Under the proposal, the Moorpark stop would be added on a one-year trial basis to determine if there is enough ridership and revenue to warrant the service.

“I think the ridership is definitely going to be there,” said Howard, adding that she is confident that residents of nearby Thousand Oaks and the Santa Rosa Valley will travel to Moorpark to board the train.

Lawrason agreed. “People today are much more attuned to the positive benefits of rail service,” he said, adding that the Amtrak stop will be a boon to the city’s efforts to revitalize its downtown area.

The Los Angeles to Santa Barbara line already has two Ventura County stops, in Simi Valley and Oxnard.

Amtrak has been providing service between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara since 1988, and in October added a second round-trip between the two cities.

The service operates in conjunction with Amtrak’s popular San Diegan line, which runs eight round-trips daily between San Diego and Los Angeles.

Caltrans and Amtrak officials said that in the 1989-90 fiscal year, 52,470 passengers rode the southbound train between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, and 47,253 passengers rode the northbound train.