Construction Begins on New Metrolink Station : Transit: San Clemente depot will be county’s seventh when it opens in February. One-way fare to L.A. will be $8.50.

Construction on Orange County’s latest Metrolink station officially began Wednesday with a groundbreaking ceremony in the city’s North Beach area.

When completed in February, the 425-foot-long raised platform costing $1.9 million will become the seventh Metrolink station in the county.

Metrolink, which is trying to win an image as Southern California’s commuter rail option, began service in the county on March 28. Stations are already operating in San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim and Fullerton.

More than 2,400 passengers a day ride the periwinkle-and-white trains in Orange County, said Dinah Minteer, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Metrolink, which is run by the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, operates three round-trip trains from Oceanside to Los Angeles on weekdays.

Teri Delcamp, an assistant planner for San Clemente, said the station site, near the intersection of North El Camino Real and Avenida Pico, was chosen because it provides better access to Interstate 5 than the Amtrak station near the city’s pier.

“The decision to build at North Beach was based on its location, access to the freeway and available parking,” Delcamp said.

The new station will have three Spanish-style shelters with stucco columns and tile roofs, Delcamp said. It will also have landscaped planters with benches, old-fashioned light fixtures, bicycle racks, ticket vending machines and 150 parking spaces.

In contrast to Amtrak, Metrolink commuters buy tickets from a machine and fares are lower, Minteer said.

“Even the Amtrak train is different,” Minteer said. “You have to climb several steps up into an Amtrak car and access is more restricted, and it’s designed for a longer ride.”

Metrolink, she said, is designed for commuters. The average trip length is 42 miles. Also, Metrolink cars have lower floors, so more people can board at once, she said. Boarding time, which can be several minutes for Amtrak, is 45 seconds to a minute, Minteer said.

A one-way, Metrolink fare from San Clemente to Los Angeles tentatively will be $8.50. Amtrak’s cost for the same trip is $16.

Metrolink passengers, the majority of whom receive subsidies from their employers to take the train, continue to report high satisfaction with the 2-year-old train service, although some complain of the prices, delays and poor connections at their destinations.