LOS ANGELES : Amtrak Adds 3rd Train on Route to Santa Barbara
A third, round-trip passenger train between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara will begin running today to help ease the city’s post-quake congestion, the president of Amtrak announced.
Thomas Downs said the nation’s passenger train line also will help Metrolink meet the skyrocketing demand for commuter rail service to the Antelope Valley. As a contract operator of Metrolink service, Amtrak will help expand schedules, find extra equipment, upgrade tracks and provide additional crews for the trains, Downs said.
The Santa Clarita line, serving Antelope Valley communities all but cut off from the Los Angeles Basin by the collapse of the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeway interchange, now runs 21 trains each weekday. Ridership has jumped from about 1,000 passenger trips per day to more than 19,000.
The Amtrak line from Santa Barbara stops at Ventura, Oxnard, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Chatsworth, Van Nuys, Burbank Airport, Glendale and Union Station before going to San Diego.
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