Rebuilt Rail Stop May Have a Short Run

The California Department of Transportation plans to spend $2.1 million to rebuild an Amtrak stop at Burbank Airport that might have to be demolished in seven to 10 years, according to a proposal to be considered later this week by a regional rail authority.

The proposed Amtrak stop on Empire Avenue would replace a platform removed from a nearby site about six months ago to make track improvements needed to accommodate the new Metrolink commuter train service, Caltrans officials said.

Caltrans has submitted its plans for the station to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, which will consider Friday whether to oversee the construction.

But the location of the new passenger platform may be temporary. The Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority is expected to make a decision next month on plans for a new terminal, which may be built on the other side of runways from the present terminal.

The new passenger platform would then be unusable because train passengers would have to cross a runway to reach the new terminal.

Caltrans has already decided to build the platform, but requested that the regional rail authority oversee construction because of its experience in building stops for the Metrolink trains. The $2.1 million needed to build the stop would come from funds generated by Proposition 108, a passenger rail bond act approved by voters in 1990.

The stop, however, would not be used by Metrolink but only by Amtrak’s San Diegan trains that run between San Diego and Santa Barbara, Caltrans spokesman Russ Snyder said.

Although Metrolink trains operate on the same tracks, Metrolink Deputy Executive David Solow said Metrolink officials are not interested in stopping at Burbank Airport because it would increase commuting times between Moorpark and downtown.

Metrolink is designed “to make trips as quickly as possible and adding stops doesn’t do that,” he said.

Besides, Solow said, Metrolink passengers who want to reach the airport can get off at the Metrolink Burbank stop, about a mile south of the airport, and take a shuttle bus or taxi to the terminal.

The Amtrak station at Burbank Airport could be built and operational in six to 12 months, he said.