L.A. Metro and Metrolink partnering to improve Antelope Valley Line

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (L.A. Metro) and the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (Metrolink) are partnering in a funding agreement to improve service capacity and reliability on the Antelope Valley Line, which operates between Los Angeles and Lancaster.

L.A. Metro’s Board of Directors approved a funding agreement with Metrolink in the amount of $16,563,581 for final design services for the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line Capital and Service Improvements Project. The project will improve train service frequency and reliability along the 76.5-mile rail corridor while reducing automobile trips and freeway congestion on SR-14, simultaneously lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

"My goal as chair of L.A. Metro is to greatly improve the frequency of train service between downtown L.A., Santa Clarita and beyond in efforts to expand our regional connectivity," said city of Glendale Councilmember and L.A. Metro Board Chair Ara J. Najarian. "This funding agreement gets us even closer to that goal and is a great example of L.A. Metro and Metrolink working hand-in-hand to make it their potential goal to increase the number of weekday trains from 15 to 30, achieve a clockface schedule and increase ridership by 150 percent by 2030."

L.A. Metro and Metrolink seek to enable regular interval scheduling of 30 minutes of bi-directional passenger rail service from L.A. Union Station to the city of Santa Clarita and hourly service to the end of the corridor in the city of Lancaster. Currently, the passenger rail service patterns range from 30 minutes during peak service to up to two hours during off-peak service hours.

 "Metrolink’s connection with Metro is a vital piece of the mobility landscape here in southern California," said Metrolink Board Chair Larry McCallon. "By making those connections as frequent and as robust as possible with projects like this, people needing to travel throughout the region will have more reasons to choose the train over their own cars."

"I am proud to have been a part of this commitment to improve the Metrolink Antelope Valley Line, so it is faster, safer and more reliable for our North County and San Fernando Valley residents" said L.A. County Supervisor, Metro and Metrolink Board Member Kathryn Barger. "These projects are the result of a partnership between our local cities, L.A. Metro, Metrolink and the state to help the Antelope Valley Line realize its fullest potential."

With the funding in hand, Metrolink will now complete the design procurement and award final design contracts for the project as part of Metrolink’s Phase 1 of the Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) program, including bid documents to support construction and pre-construction right-of-way acquisition for three capital projects:

• Balboa Double Track – will extend the existing Sylmar siding, a section of track approximately 6,300 feet north from Balboa Boulevard to Sierra Highway, which upon completion, will allow for optimized train operations before entering the largest tunnel segment along the Antelope Valley Line.
• Canyon to Santa Clarita Double Track – will extend the Saugus siding by adding approximately 8,400 feet of new track between Soledad Canyon Road and Golden Oak. The design includes an optional platform-to-platform pedestrian undercrossing configuration, improving operational flexibility and line reliability while providing the first Quiet Zone in the city of Santa Clarita.
• Lancaster Terminal Improvements – will include expansion of the existing maintenance yard with two new 500-foot-long and one 1,000-foot-long train storage tracks and provisions for fueling with a center platform with pedestrian undercrossing configuration options, which will add the needed storage capacity for this corridor while supporting the first Quiet Zone in the city of Lancaster.

"The Antelope Valley Line is a critical piece of our region’s transportation network, serving some of the fastest growing areas of our county," said L.A. Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. "By advancing this funding agreement, L.A. Metro can build on the longstanding partnership with Metrolink that ensures people from the North County have easy access to L.A. Metro’s bus and rail network."

SCORE is a $10 billion capital improvement program — grade crossing, station, and signal improvements as well as track additions and work — that accelerates progress towards Metrolink's zero-emissions future and prepares Metrolink system for that level of increased service.

"Providing public transportation options for the millions of people expected to attend this international athletic showcase will be a team effort, and we appreciate L.A. Metro’s investment," said Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle. "Metrolink will play a key role in transporting riders between venues outside of Los Angeles while connecting to the rest of the L.A. Metro Rail and bus systems at L.A. Union Station."

The Metrolink Antelope Valley Line Capital and Service Improvements Project will serve the ethnically diverse north Los Angeles County. Nine of the 11 cities and communities along this project’s alignment are Equity Focus Communities, which are communities most heavily impacted by gaps in inequity throughout the county. The Antelope Valley Line has the lowest percentage of riders with an annual household income of over $50,000 at 65 percent compared to the systemwide average of 80 percent. The increase in ridership will reduce congestion and air pollution in disadvantaged adjacent communities along the high volume of I-5 and SR-14 highways.

The 76.5-mile Antelope Valley Line extends from L.A. Union Station and terminates in Lancaster with stations in Los Angeles, Glendale, Burbank, Sun Valley, Sylmar, San Fernando, Newhall, Santa Clarita, Acton, Palmdale, Lancaster and unincorporated LA County.