Trains to Be Added in Strike : Transportation: Metrolink routes would increase, key Valley bus service would be limited if drivers walk out.

If Los Angeles bus drivers strike on Monday, the Metrolink commuter rail system will add six trains to its Ventura County line across the San Fernando Valley, including three that would run in the reverse of the normal commuting direction for the first time, officials said Friday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also announced that seven of the Valley’s busiest bus lines would have limited service if drivers walk out, which they have threatened to do as early as 12:01 a.m. Monday if contract talks fail. About 75 buses would serve the Valley, the majority of them school buses to be leased by the MTA, spokeswoman Andrea Greene said.

Strike service on those lines would be half as frequent as is currently offered. Buses would run weekdays only from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Metrolink officials would boost the number of Chatsworth-to-Downtown Los Angeles morning trains from six to eight if a strike materializes. One additional afternoon train from Union Station to Chatsworth would be available, spokesman Peter Hidalgo said.

The extra trains would stop at stations in the Valley only and not in Ventura County, which would not be affected by an MTA bus drivers strike.

For the first time, Metrolink would also run trains opposite the main flow of traffic along its Ventura County line. Two of its periwinkle-and-white trains are planned to shuttle passengers from Union Station to Chatsworth in the morning, and Valley riders can hop onto an inbound train in the afternoon.

“We do this in anticipation of more ridership. All this is in preparation for a strike,” Hidalgo said, adding that the MTA is funding the extra trains. Metrolink officials estimate that the cost would be about $1,000 a day.

Service on the Santa Clarita line, which already boasts 23 trains a day, including three reverse-commute rides, would remain the same.

Hidalgo said many inbound Santa Clarita riders who work in the west San Fernando Valley ordinarily alight at the Sylmar-San Fernando stop and take express buses to their offices. If a strike cripples those bus routes, he said, morning passengers can take the Santa Clarita line to the Burbank station, then transfer to one of the new Chatsworth-bound trains on the Ventura County line.

The MTA’s contingency plan for skeletal bus service includes routes throughout the Valley, mostly along major thoroughfares such as Van Nuys Boulevard and Sherman Way. The seven lines have a combined ridership of 90,000 a day, Greene said.

Fares would not be collected for at least a week on the privately run yellow school buses until fare boxes can be installed, Greene said.

Currently, the Valley has 38 bus lines, with a total of 167,000 boardings daily.

The bus drivers union set the Monday strike deadline two weeks ago, threatening job action if no agreement is reached or progress made during talks for a new contract. Drivers, mechanics and clerks--about 6,500 MTA employees in all--have been without a contract since July 1.

A strike would be the Los Angeles transit system’s first in 12 years.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Ed Edelman, the chairman of the MTA board of directors, said Friday that the labor negotiations have produced “some give and take. (But) it’s not enough. We have a long way to go.”

Valley Emergency Bus Routes The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has planned emergency service on seven of the San Fernando Valley’s busiest bus routes in the event of a threatened strike by bus drivers,w hich could come as early as 12:01 a.m. Monday. The Metrolink Commuter rail will also increase the number of trains on its Ventura County line to accommodate more riders.

Scheduling Information For bus c all 1-800-2LA-RIDE (1-800-252-7433) For Metrolink call 1-800-371-LINK (1-800-371-5465) Source: Metropolitan Transportation Authority