Making Tracks : Who says commuting has to be serious business? Riding the Metrolink can also be your ticket to a range of leisure activities during the workweek.

So you want to play hooky?

Here’s an easy way to spend an afternoon eating a burrito on Olvera Street, checking out a bestseller or two at the Los Angeles Central Library and maybe gawking at a Hockney at the Museum of Contemporary Art--all without getting into your car.

For most Southern Californians, taking a weekday off means running endless errands in bumper-to-bumper traffic with little relief from smog, noise and stress. But there is a way to escape the drudgery of the workweek and explore the region’s shopping and culture.

Metrolink.

Although the commuter rail system doesn’t run on the weekends, the 346 miles of track that crisscross six Southern California counties can lead to a variety of adventures for healthy workers aching to call in sick.

Places like Burbank’s much-maligned, but now very hip downtown, Glendale’s Gargantuan Galleria and the historic and financial districts of Los Angeles are short train hops away.

When the first of Metrolink’s 40 stations opened in 1992, there were few routes or destinations to choose from. Today, the choices are still limited, but riders can board the train at a station as far north as Lancaster and travel through the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys to Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles.

From Union Station, connections to the Metro Red Line and buses offer access to most points in Downtown, making it just as easy for an office truant to catch a ride to the jewelry district as it is for other commuters to scurry to their corporate cages.

Even so, few ride the rails for pleasure, Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said. But that could change.

“Metrolink’s primary mission is to provide an alternative for the commuter, but we realize there is a secondary goal to serve people in the discretionary market who want to travel around Southern California,” he said. “People don’t realize the train is there for them to take for fun.”

In fact, the rail system has had a tough enough time luring auto-loving commuters on board, much less sightseers. Metrolink averaged about 17,100 riders a day for the month of February--an all-time high. But many express frustration that the half-billion-dollar public investment in the system has yet to pay off.

Transportation officials in transit-dependent cities such as San Francisco said the key to a successful mass transit system is to persuade riders to take the trains for both work and leisure.

“There is no question there is a recreational market,” said Michael Bernick, who serves on the board of directors of the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. “A big part of that is just the fun of riding the train itself.”

To date, the media blitz surrounding the periwinkle-and-white trains has focused on getting commuters to ride the rails through reduced-fare sample rides. But, Hidalgo said, a plan is in the works to publicize taking the train for fun by offering reduced fares for midday service as an incentive for potential sightseers.

Problem is, such a campaign is far from reality as each county must decide if it wants to add more middle-of-the-day trains necessary to provide the flexibility that many taking the train want on their days off.

While the San Bernardino and Santa Clarita lines have added several middle-of-the-day trains, other counties have not yet considered the plan. As it is, taking the train for fun requires at least a six-hour commitment.

Because the train system is designed for commuters, pleasure riders should be warned that getting where they want may not always be possible. It’s more difficult and time-consuming than it’s worth, for instance, for a rider from Simi Valley to get to Lancaster.

The best time to take the train for pleasure is the last rush-hour departure in the morning--it is the least crowded line--and first rush-hour departure in the evening. Tickets can be purchased at each station from machines that dispense Susan B. Anthony dollar coins as change.

Prices vary with the distance traveled, but an average round-trip ride on Metrolink costs about $7.50.

Most stations are little more than concrete slabs with a few shelters to protect riders from rain or sun. Hidalgo said the Spartan appearance often intimidates first-time riders because there is no place to hide.

“People are afraid they are going to make a fool of themselves because they don’t know where to stand or where to sit on the train,” he said. “That’s our biggest challenge, next to getting them out of their car.”

Perhaps not surprisingly, experienced Metrolink riders are a helpful bunch, showing first-timers how to buy tickets and helping them find seats on sometimes crowded trains.

Must have something to do with not driving.

Once aboard, the trains are quiet and smooth, the seats comfortable. Some regular riders sit together every day and chatter among themselves as the industrial neighborhoods that line the routes zip by at 70 m.p.h.

Others catch a few more minutes of sleep. Most read or work at a few of the prized tables as the cars rock gently.

As the train pulls into the destinations, move quickly. The trains have tight schedules and may stop at a station for only 90 seconds or so before moving on.

Most stations offer disembarking passengers several options to get to other places. Some of the easiest to use are Burbank, Glendale and Downtown Los Angeles. These destinations are also the most practical for a daylong trip without a car.

Deciding where to visit depends on what you’re looking for.

Burbank, home to Walt Disney, NBC and Warner Bros. studios, provides plenty of opportunities for studio tours or to see a show being taped.

If it’s shopping that strikes your fancy, all three spots have large shopping plazas, particularly Glendale with the Galleria. And Downtown offers a little of everything.

So practice that sick-sounding, can’t-come-to-work voice, and all aboard!

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Diverse Destinations

Directions to each destination assume the starting point is each city’s Metrolink station.

BURBANK METROLINK

201 N. Front St.

* Burbank Natural History Museum, 555 N. 3rd St., Burbank. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Admission is $3.50 general, $2.50 for students and seniors, children 12 and younger are $1.50. For information on exhibits, call (818) 557-3562.

Getting there: Take the downtown village shuttle and ask to be dropped off at the museum (this shuttle does not have a fixed route and passengers can request to go anywhere in the downtown area). Shuttles meet all trains from 6 a.m. to 9:24 a.m. and run from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Media District shuttle runs until the 8:44 p.m. train.

* Los Angeles Equestrian Center, 480 Riverside Drive, Burbank. For information on horse riding lessons, call the Traditional Equitation School at (818) 569-3666. For horse rental, call the Livery Stables at (818) 840-8401.

Getting there: Take the Media District shuttle and disembark at the Disney Animation Building. Commuters must walk several blocks to reach the center on Riverside Drive.

* Media City Mall, 201 E. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, (818) 566-8617. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Getting there: Take the downtown village shuttle.

* NBC Studios, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., Burbank. For information on tapings, call (818) 953-8628. Tours run 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Admission is $6 general and $3.75 for children 12 and younger. To make reservations for studio tours, call (818) 840-4444.

Getting there: Take the Media District shuttle. * Warner Bros. Studios, 4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank. Studio tours run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday. Admission is $27, regardless of age, children 10 and younger are not allowed. Reservations are recommended. Call (818) 954-1744.

For information on tapings, call (818) 954-6000.

Getting there: Take the Media District shuttle.

For more information on the Burbank shuttle, call (818) 953-8628.

*

GLENDALE METROLINK

400 Cerritos Ave.

* Glendale Galleria, 2148 Glendale Galleria, Glendale, (818) 240-9481. Open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday.

Getting there: Take city shuttle Route 1 or Route 2. Shuttles arrive every 10 minutes and run from 6 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.

*

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES, UNION STATION

800 N. Alameda St. * Children’s Museum, 310 N. Main St., Los Angeles, (213) 687-8800. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 9:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday to Friday with prepaid reservations only. Admission to the museum--geared to children ages 2 to 10--is $5. To make reservations, call (213) 687-8825.

Getting there: Take Metro Red Line to Civic Center Station or catch Dash Route B at Los Angeles and Alameda streets.

* Chinatown, on Broadway between College and Ord streets. For more information on hot spots in this escape to the Far East, call the Chinese Historical Society at (213) 621-3171.

Getting there: Catch Dash Route B in front of Union Station on Alameda Street.

* Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles. For information on show times, call (213) 972-7211. Free tours are available 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday.

Getting there: Take the Metro Red Line to Civic Center Station.

* Los Angeles Central Library, 630 W. 5th St., Los Angeles, (213) 228-7000. Open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday, and Thursday to Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday.

Getting there: Take Metro Red Line to Pershing Square Station.

* Museum of Contemporary Art, 250 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 621-2766. Open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Admission is $6, students with identification get in for $4, and children 12 and younger are admitted free.

Getting there: Catch Dash Route B at Los Angeles and Alameda streets.

* Olvera Street, maps and information are available from the Sepulveda House, 622 N. Main St., open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For tour information, call (213) 628-1274.

Getting there: From Union Station walk out the main entrance and cross the parking lot. After a short walk up the hill, take a right.

* Seventh Street Marketplace, 7th Street and Figueroa Street.

Getting there: Take Metro Red Line to Seventh Street/Metro Center Station.

*

EXPOSITION PARK

Exposition Boulevard at Figueroa Street

There are myriad places to visit at the 36-square-block complex, including:

* California Museum of Science and Industry, on Figueroa Street between Exposition Boulevard and Martin Luther King Boulevard, next to the Los Angeles Coliseum. Open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. (213) 744-7400.

* IMAX Theater (in the Museum of Science and Industry), (213) 744-2014. Several different films run daily on the hour from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Admission is $6 general, $4.75 for people 13 to 21, and $4 for children 4 to 12 and seniors.

* Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles, (213) 744-3466. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday. Admission is $6 general, $3.50 for students and seniors, and $2 for children 5 to 12. The first Tuesday of each month is free.

Getting to Exposition Park: Catch MTA bus No. 443, 444, 446 or 447 at the Union Station Upper Bus Plaza.

*

BLUE LINE

Haven’t had enough of rail travel? Take the Blue Line light-rail system through South Los Angeles to Long Beach.

Getting there: Take the Red Line to Seventh Street/Metro Center Station.

* For general information on schedules, stations and fares call: (800) 371-LINK.

* For general information on Downtown-area DASH shuttle schedules call: (800) 252-7433.