LOS ANGELES COUNTY : Metrolink Renews Contract With Sheriff’s Department

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department won an $8-million contract Friday to provide security on Metrolink trains, beating out the Metropolitan Transportation Authority transit police.

The Southern California Regional Rail Authority Board of Directors, which oversees operation of Metrolink trains, voted to renew its contract with the Sheriff’s Department to provide security on six train routes.

The department has been providing security on the trains since Metrolink began operating in 1992. But when the contract came up for renewal this year, Metrolink staff recommended using the MTA transit police, said Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo.

The MTA had offered to do the job for $77,000 less, but the board rejected the staff recommendation, Hidalgo said.

“The board felt the credibility that the Sheriff’s Department offered was more important than cost,” Hidalgo said.

The three-year contract calls for deputies to ride on the trains and patrol Metrolink tracks to stop people from crossing illegally. The deputies will provide security for all Metrolink trains, which run through Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino and San Diego counties.

MTA spokesman Bill Heard said agency officials there were disappointed and may try to get the board to reconsider.

“We do not believe the decision was correct,” Heard said. “We will be exploring options on how we shall proceed.”