County Agrees to Buy Rail Line for Service to Antelope Valley : Transportation: The 67 miles of track eventually will be used to shuttle commuters to and from work in L.A.

The Los Angeles County Transportation Commission announced Thursday that it has agreed to purchase a 67-mile rail line from Southern Pacific railroad in order to extend commuter train service to the Antelope Valley at some undetermined time in the future.

The so-called Saugus Line was part of 78 miles of right of way in the northern part of the county that the commission acquired for $68 million under an agreement reached Wednesday during a closed-door session.

The purchase will make it possible to extend the Metrolink commuter rail service between downtown Los Angeles and the Santa Clarita Valley--which begins Oct. 26--to the Antelope Valley someday, county transportation officials said.

“The acquisition of these rights of way is necessary in order to provide future transportation service to the communities of Palmdale and Lancaster,” said Supervisor Mike Antonovich, who chairs the County Transportation Commission and represents the Antelope Valley on the Board of Supervisors.

Neil Peterson, executive director of the commission, said the other parcels purchased in the deal include tracks in Canoga Park, Burbank and Chatsworth that can be used to improve future rail transit projects.

The Southern Pacific deal brings to 653 miles the rights of way that the commission has purchased over the past 3 1/2 years, he said. “The most important thing you can do to plan for the future is to obtain rights of way,” Peterson said.

Commission officials had originally negotiated only for rights of way from downtown Los Angeles to Santa Clarita for the Metrolink trains, county transportation officials said. But during the discussions, commission officials decided to purchase the entire right of way between downtown Los Angeles and Lancaster because Southern Pacific railroad offered it at a discount of about 40%, county transportation officials said.

The commission paid about $830,000 per mile for the line, contrasted with about $1.4 million per mile for rail lines previously purchased from Southern Pacific and other railroad companies, according to a commission report on the deal.

Peterson said there are no immediate plans to extend the Metrolink service to the Antelope Valley but the right-of-way purchase allows county transportation officials to begin planning.

“Getting the service out there is several years away, but this is the first step,” he said.

Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford had mixed reactions to the announcement.

“We have all the commuters up here, so anytime we can find alternative transportation for them, that’s beautiful,” he said. But he also said he wondered whether a commuter line to the Antelope Valley would conflict with plans proposed by the county to build a high-speed train from Los Angeles International Airport to Palmdale.

The additional parcels purchased in Canoga Park and Burbank will help provide the rights of way for a proposed light-rail line from Burbank to downtown Los Angeles with minimum interference from other rail lines during construction, Peterson said.

Two small segments in Chatsworth will be used for future park-and-ride lots, he said.

Another part of the deal will give the commission the option of connecting the Chatsworth Metrolink station with Warner Center in Woodland Hills, which will be served by an east-west rail line, Peterson said.