Metrolink Will Take Residents to the Fair : Transit: Special runs starting in Simi Valley will help visitors avoid traffic, officials say. Campaign will also serve to promote commuter service.

The Metrolink commuter trains that normally run between Moorpark and downtown Los Angeles will reverse course for four days this month to take east and central county residents to the Ventura County Fair.

These special rail runs will help fair-goers avoid traffic and parking lot jams, while introducing Metrolink to people who have never stepped on board, fair officials and county transportation leaders said Tuesday.

The Metrolink fair service will be offered on two weekends, Aug. 21-22 and Aug. 28-29, with stops at Simi Valley, Moorpark, Camarillo and Oxnard before reaching the fairgrounds in Ventura. “We’re delighted that this is going to come about,” said Sandi Bush, a member of the fair’s board of directors. “We look at this as kind of an adventure, for kids to ride the train to the fair along with their parents.

“What a great way to see Ventura County from a different perspective than the freeway.”

The round-trip cost will be $6 per person from Simi Valley and Moorpark; $4 from Camarillo and Oxnard. Children 5 and under will ride for free. The fair trains will make four daily round-trips from Simi Valley beginning at 9:30 a.m.

Tickets will be sold on the train platforms--including a temporary platform that will be set up on Lewis Road in Camarillo--and at city halls in Simi Valley, Moorpark and Camarillo. The ride from Simi Valley to Ventura is expected to take 50 minutes.

Bush believes the train service will help attract more east county visitors to the fair, which runs from Aug. 18 to Aug. 29.

“Because of the way the county is laid out geographically, people often don’t want to drive from one side of the county to the other,” she said. “And that’s what they have to do if they come from Simi Valley to the fair. This way, they can just jump on the train, enjoy the ride and see the fair.”

Last year’s event attracted almost 274,000 visitors, a figure that fair organizers hope to match or exceed this year.

In addition to boosting attendance, the special Metrolink service will help transportation experts gauge whether there is interest in extending the commuter rail service to central and west county cities, train proponents say.

Since the system was launched last October, Metrolink’s only Ventura County stops have been Simi Valley and Moorpark, on a route that runs through the San Fernando Valley to downtown Los Angeles only on weekdays.

The system offered a few weekend rides to Los Angeles last December for shoppers and tourists, and it is gearing up for weekend service to the Los Angeles County Fair in Pomona during September and October.

After hearing about plans for Los Angeles County Fair trains, Simi Valley City Councilman Bill Davis, who serves on Metrolink’s regional governing board, began to push for Ventura County Fair runs.

Davis said the service will be particularly convenient because the Ventura train platform is across the street from the fairgrounds. Metrolink riders, he pointed out, will not have to fight for scarce parking spaces, nor pay the $3 parking fee.

“It’s always been a major problem trying to park down there,” he said. “I think you will see a lot of people go to the fair (by train) who previously thought it was too much of a hassle.”

Davis, a member of the Ventura County Transportation Commission, said he hopes central and west county residents who take their first Metrolink ride will lobby for new commuter train stops beyond Moorpark.

“I’m hoping it will stir up enough interest so that we can pick up a couple of other cities on this line,” he said.

But the key obstacle is money, transportation experts say. Metrolink’s weekday service is subsidized by the county Transportation Commission, and staff members said the agency cannot now afford to extend these runs to more cities.

The commission will pay about $17,000 for the four days of rail service to the fair and hopes to break even through ticket sales, said Mary Travis, the agency’s manager of transportation programs.

“At some point in the future, we’re planning to extend Metrolink service to Ventura and Oxnard and possibly Camarillo,” Travis said. “This is a good way to let people know that day is coming and to give them a chance to check out Metrolink’s comfortable equipment--and to support our county fair.”

Ventura County Fair Train Stops Metrolink trains will make special runs between Simi Valley and Ventura on Aug. 21-22 during the Ventura County Fair. The train will stop at the stations shown below. Metrolink Train Stops 1. Metrolink Station, Los Angeles AVe. at Stearns St. 2. Metrolink Station, High St. at Magnolia St. 3. Temporary Platform, Lewis Rd. at Ventura Blvd. 4. Amtrak Station, 3rd St. at Oxnard Blvd. 5. Ventura County Fairgrounds, Harbor Blvd. at Seaside Park.