Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Northern Metrolink Line Cuts Cars as Ridership Drops

Metrolink on Thursday began reducing the number of cars on its north county rail line, reflecting dwindling ridership as commuters find their former automobile routes busy but passable.

Ridership peaked two weeks after the Jan. 17 Northridge earthquake at about 31,300 systemwide and 22,000 on the Santa Clarita line alone, when north county residents were cut off from Los Angeles by quake-buckled freeways.

With ridership now averaging 18,000 systemwide, Metrolink is trimming two cars from each 10-car train on the Lancaster/Santa Clarita line, said spokesman Peter Hidalgo. The additional cars are returning to use on Metrolink’s Riverside and San Bernardino lines.

“This is primarily a move to help out other routes, because they’ve seen less cars since the earthquake,” Hidalgo said.

Once a minor leg in the commuter rail system, the Santa Clarita-Antelope Valley line has come to dominate the Metrolink network in recent weeks.

In December, about 10,500 passengers rode Metrolink trains daily, with 1,439 using the north county line. About 44% of all Metrolink rides are now on that route.

Some of the increase is being attributed to more trains along the line, including the introduction of Metrolink service into Lancaster and Palmdale for the first time.

Service into the Antelope Valley began one week after the earthquake and several years ahead of schedule. Palmdale and Lancaster stations are scheduled to operate for at least 12 months and will continue permanently if ridership continues.

Crews are working on improvements to the tracks between the north county and downtown Los Angeles that are expected to cut the 140-minute travel time almost in half.

“I think by the end of March, you’ll see some speed increases,” Hidalgo said.

Transit officials are unsure how long ridership will remain elevated. Hidalgo said it has already outlasted Northern California’s public transportation boom that followed the Loma Prieta earthquake in October, 1989.

Although Metrolink officials expect to eventually shrink to the four cars per train that were used before Jan. 17, the number of daily runs, which doubled from 14 to 28 since the quake, won’t be cut, Hidalgo said.

“We do not anticipate going to pre-quake levels,” Hidalgo said. “This has been a nice way to get people thinking about another way to get in and out (of a city).”