Rail Officials Track Trend, Set New L.A. Service

In a sign of Orange County’s continuing emergence as a regional job hub, Metrolink officials hope by next month to offer daily train service for Los Angeles commuters traveling into Anaheim, Santa Ana and Irvine and beyond.

For six years, commuter rail service has followed the historical routine of many Southern Californians, traveling into Los Angeles in the morning and returning to the suburbs at the end of the work day.

Now, as commuter patterns grow more varied, Metrolink is negotiating with Amtrak and freight-train carriers to find room on their shared tracks for four new train routes that would serve commuters who work in Orange County.

Metrolink expects to have the service running by Oct. 26, said spokesman Peter G. Hidalgo.

The action comes as local transportation officials predict a big increase in the number of Los Angeles County residents working in Orange County by 2020.

In 1990, there were 140,999 Los Angeles-to-Orange-County commuter trips a day, compared to 278,636 by 2020, according to Ellen Burton, a senior analyst with the Orange County Transportation Authority.

“It has to do with economy in Orange County and the types of jobs here,” Burton said. “There are good-paying jobs here and not as much affordable housing, so it’s going bring the labor force traveling into the county.”

The biggest flow of workers into Orange County comes from Riverside and San Bernardino counties, where housing and population growth are expected to boom in coming decades. In general, Burton said, Orange County can expect to see more workers commuting in from all directions.

“The commutes are really dispersed,” Burton said. “People are going here, there and everywhere.”

Projections for the upcoming decade predict a staggering 70% growth in the number of Orange County jobs, accompanied by a 22% surge in the number of residents, according to Sarah Catz, chair of the OCTA board and a member of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority. That will create greater demand for commuting options into the county, she added.

“We wouldn’t be doing this if we didn’t need it,” Catz said of new rail service. “It’s wonderful news. The commuters will be cheering it all the way.”

Metrolink runs trains from Los Angeles and out to San Bernardino, Riverside and Ventura counties. The addition of “reverse trains” on the fast-growing Orange County line is part of a long-range plan to make the rail service a viable commuting option for a diverse region, according to David Solow, Metrolink executive deputy director.

The timing of the new service was keyed to talks with the Walt Disney Co., which approached Metrolink officials seeking a commuting option for employees traveling from the entertainment company’s Burbank headquarters to its Anaheim amusement park.

With Disney employees contending with construction and traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway, company officials asked Metrolink about rail options, Solow said. “That was the genesis of this, and then we talked with other companies and found some potential,” Solow said.

About 150 Disney employees answering a company survey said they would have “great interest” in the Metrolink service to Orange County, according to Linda Ballew, the company’s manager of commuter transportation.

The trains that would run from Los Angeles to Irvine would make stops at Metrolink stations in Norwalk, Fullerton, Anaheim, Orange, and Santa Ana, Hidalgo said.

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Making the Link

By 2020, the number of daily commuters arriving in Orange County from Los Angeles County will have increased 98% since 1990. The comparable Orange County-to-Los Angeles figure is 72%. To help the flow, Metrolink trains will begin weekday southbound morning runs from Los Angeles into Orange County on Oct. 26.

Daily Commuters

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1990 2020 Los Angeles-Orange County 140,999 278,636 Orange County-Los Angeles 202,944 348,939

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New Metrolink Train Schedule

Southbound to Irvine

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Train Station 600 602 Los Angeles 6:45 a.m. 7:46 a.m. Norwalk 7:12 8:09 Fullerton 7:21 8:18 Anaheim 7:30 8:26 Orange 7:34 8:30 Santa Ana 7:38 8:34 Irvine 7:50 8:45

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Northbound from Irvine

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Train Station 609 611 Irvine 4:20 p.m. 5:10 p.m. Santa Ana 4:32 5:21 Orange 4:36 5:25 Anaheim 4:40 5:28 Fullerton 4:48 5:37 Norwalk 4:57 5:46 Los Angeles 5:26 6:16

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Sources: Orange County Transportation Authority, MTA