SAN FERNANDO VALLEY : Metrolink Delayed Nearly 45 Minutes

About 175 commuters who turned to the Metrolink rail system to avoid getting stuck in traffic found themselves stuck in limbo for nearly 45 minutes Thursday, when their train engineer failed to show up for work because of car trouble.

The 7:16 a.m. train out of Moorpark, which had been scheduled to arrive at Los Angeles’ Union Station at 8:40 a.m, was 43 minutes late in leaving and did not arrive downtown until about 9:20 a.m., Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said.

The train passes eastward through the San Fernando Valley, picking up passengers in Chatsworth, Van Nuys and Burbank.

“Our engineer had some car trouble, believe it or not,” Hidalgo said. A substitute engineer was sent to Moorpark from the Metrolink control station in Glendale.

Ginger Gherardi, executive director of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said Metrolink employees are supposed to call ahead if they have problems getting to work.

“There are very strict union rules that determine when the person is supposed to call and say whether he’s going to be coming in or not coming in,” she said. “He will be penalized if he did anything wrong.”

Gherardi said Amtrak, which operates the Metrolink system under contract with the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, is mandated to provide on-time service. Under the contract, she said, Amtrak is penalized for delays.

In compensation, the commuter rail service is offering a free round-trip ticket to anyone inconvenienced by Thursday’s mishap, Hidalgo said.

“We want to ensure commuters that if for some reason a train cannot make its run and is canceled, we would dispatch buses that would go to the stations and take the individuals to their destination,” Hidalgo said.