Metrolink to Stop by Burbank Airport

Under a 6-month trial program, Metrolink’s Ventura County line will make 18 stops a day at the Burbank Airport station, an Amtrak depot that has served the airport for more than a year. “The purpose of this station is to provide an alternative for people who work Downtown and need to catch a flight, or people in Ventura County who need a convenient way to get to the airport,” said Peter Hidalgo, a Metrolink spokesman.

“Our research has shown that not many people would use that station to get to Downtown Los Angeles or to Oxnard, so it’s really a destination station rather than a commuter station.”

After the trial period that began Monday, Metrolink officials will evaluate whether enough passengers are using the facility to warrant continuing the service.

It is the first time Metrolink, a commuter train service initiated in 1992, has served a regional airport, officials said. Amtrak will continue using the station as a stop on its San Diego and Santa Barbara lines.

The station is about a block’s walk from the airport’s main terminal, but a courtesy phone will enable passengers with large amounts of luggage to call the airport’s shuttle service. Modifications to the station include lengthening the platform to accommodate Metrolink trains and the installing automated ticket machines, Hidalgo said.

Officials with the airport and the city of Burbank had asked Metrolink to stop at the airport ever since the Amtrak station was opened there.