Union Pacific Blamed for Delays

In a strongly worded letter, the operators of Metrolink train service between Riverside and Los Angeles blame Union Pacific railroad for the commuter rail’s repeated and lengthy delays.

Metrolink Chief Executive David Solow accused Union Pacific of demonstrating an inability or “unwillingness” to adhere to a 10-year-old contract that would improve on-time performance for the passenger trains.

“There are frequent examples of situations where Metrolink trains are delayed for over 30 minutes, sometimes more than one hour,” Solow said in a letter delivered late last week.

He blamed poor oversight and dispatching by Union Pacific, the freight rail company that owns and manages the tracks.

Company officials acknowledged the delays Tuesday and said they are working to solve the problem.

“We feel we’ll have a solution soon,” spokesman Mike Furtney said. “All we would ask is that they would be patient.”

The line, with trains 12 times daily, runs on time about 86% of the time, according to Metrolink. The agency calls that level of service unacceptable, particularly because it has 95% on-time performance on its other trains, spokeswoman Sharon Gavin said.

“The worst part is the size of the delays,” Gavin said. “People aren’t just five minutes late, they are too often way late.”

But regular riders on the line couldn’t care less about the dispute, they just want an end to the logjam.

Passengers aboard the 4:15 p.m. train leaving Los Angeles for Riverside County on Tuesday talked about being constantly late for work, about missing doctor appointments and birthday parties for children while they sat, motionless, on Metrolink’s gleaming silver-and-blue trains.

Some also complained pointedly that Metrolink was low-balling its estimate on how often the trains are late.

“Eighty-six percent?” asked Mary Bretthaver of Ontario. “Who are they kidding? They are significantly late about half the time.”

A chorus of riders chimed in to agree.

Added Sherman Breaux, a computer programmer who takes the train to Riverside: “There are times you’ve got to wonder if this is all worth it.”

Breaux, who like most other regular riders spends more than $150 on a monthly Metrolink pass subsidized by his employer, said he is constantly tardy. Sometimes the delays are extreme.

His trip, when running smoothly, should take just over one hour. On a recent evening, Breaux said, it took him nearly five hours to reach his home in Moreno Valley.

Metrolink trains crisscross much of the Southland with a 416-mile network connecting downtown Los Angeles with cities as far-flung as Oceanside, Oxnard and Riverside.

As is the case for commuter rail companies through much of the country, Metrolink often must share crowded tracks with freight trains.

About 40% of the agency’s trains run on rails controlled by freight companies such as Union Pacific. The arrangement contributes to delays that continually hamper passenger rail.

Dispatchers, employed by the freight lines, must constantly decide which trains should be allowed to run and which should be forced to wait.

Metrolink and Union Pacific entered into a 1992 agreement giving the commuter agency’s trains priority during rush hour, in exchange for its financing of $71 million in track improvements, Gavin said.

That means Union Pacific dispatchers, watching over routes from their centers in San Bernardino and Omaha, should give the commuter trains the right of way, Gavin said.

Furtney agreed that is not happening enough.

“We’ve got to make sure that everyone understands ... Metrolink gets the priority,” he said.

The company, he said, is preparing an “action plan” to pound home the rules with dispatchers on the Riverside county line.

He added, however, that some of the delays appear to have been caused by a recent order from the Federal Railroad Administration that trains in the Riverside area be slowed until problems with some of the rails are fixed.

The spokesman said his company’s goal is to get Riverside’s on-time performance to about 95%.

Gavin, however, said Metrolink has been haggling with Union Pacific for at least nine years over the delays. “We’ve been through this before,” she said. “Now we want lasting results.”

In February, the delays in Riverside became so acute that Metrolink decided to give its riders 25% discounts on their tickets.

Gavin said Metrolink may be forced to call in an outside arbitrator, allowed for in a contract between the two sides, to solve the issue.

The Metrolink Riverside line carries about 4,500 passengers a day, Gavin said.