วีดีโอ

Why do the Arrow line trains look like the eBART 😂😂😂 (This was a great video. Very informative and clean background footage. You deserve more subscribers!)

Many US citizens might be scared by the DMU. It is missing a locomotive, clearly witchcraft!!! 😂

Of course it would have made more sense to just extend the San Bernardino Metrolink Line. That is obvious. However, NIMBYs in Redlands vetoed any regular Metrolink service on this corridor (I'm amazed they are allowed the one train a day), complaining about noise. So it was this or nothing. This also means that you can't easily convert this to standard Metrolink service. It's basically politically impossible. It was also paid for a specific Federal grant that only could be used on projects under $100 million dollars. The estimate of ARROW's cost used for that grant was $99.1 million, so they got their money's worth. The ESRI station was paid for by the ESRI corporation, whose office is located next to it.

The fact that arrow doesn't have a timed transfer to cut the transfer time to just 5 minutes for example baffles me.

There is still hope and I think they should've extended the San Bernardino and Inland Empire-Orange County Lines through the area and the big trouble is that some of stations don't have bus connections and the connections from the Arrow Rail Line to the two lines mentioned are impossible.

Heard from an employee that some higher-ups won't even get close to the nitrogen set bc they think its like a moving bomb lol

Removing a whole line and dumping trains hell nah. Just make good station hubs

A proposal from nandert explains how the arrow could be extended further west, extending this line to Pomona downtown, via the Ontario Airport and before it turns off for the airport, a connection at Rancho Cucamonga for Brightline West. On a side note, land use around every Arrow station is currently horrible except for a few businesses at Redlands downtown. Improving land use could increase ridership hopefully

I was interested in watching your video, but you flash through the still pictures so fast one can't watch it without pausing every 5 seconds to look at the pictures, than having to go back to listen to what you are saying. Please do better.

Run frequent service aligned with the bus system, and an island platform for easier transfers to Metrolink.

This is almost as bad as Portland's WES train.

In my opinion, I always found it strange that Metrolink ran a shorter train service from one suburb to another, on a ROW with express service that already connects to the big city. Despite this, the use of DMU's shouldn't be abandoned, as some short-turn trains on the Metrolink system would be better suited for DMU's than the larger double deck commuter trains. Also potential branch lines off of the main network can be well served by DMU's with less concerns for capacity, and safety being less of an issue, as running amongst larger trains will likely be negated. While arrow may have been a failure in this format, a more concise use of these trains across the system would be beneficial for travel in Southern California

Since Metrolink operates Arrow, why would there ever be more than a 10-minute transfer to the main Metrolink line? I prefer traveling from Redlands but with wait times of 28 to 90 minutes for the transfer and fewer trains, I just go to San Bernardino Depot. It’s the same distance from my house. One thing Redlands could do is provide secured overnight parking. That’s a big deterrent to travel on Metrolink. Any cost-savings from taking the train is lost for the Uber/Lyft ride. I just looked at the City of Redlands’s economic development website and the only mention of Arrow was an item from 2020 about a road closure. So, clearly Arrow isn’t on the City’s radar. When event promoters, like the Redlands Bicycle Classic, come to town there’s no mention of rail as a transportation option - even though bicycle riders are heavy train riders. Is it any wonder no one knows about this train. (The City's site is also the reference for the weekly Farmer's Market). The Arrow right-of-way is part of the old Santa Fe “Kite Loop” that once extended through Mentone, through Highland and Patton station, right at the corner of Highland Avenue and Victoria, where there is perpetual gridlock for guests of the Yaamava Casino. Ironically, they tore down the Patton station only a few years ago - a testament city planner’s distain for rail service.

Excellent video! I sometimes ride for fun to LA with a friend, but sometimes the transfers to San Bernardino are, shall we say, inconvenient. In fact, we’ve actually discussed how this line would benefit being extended to Mentone on the old Kite Line, or whatever is left of it. For now, we sometimes take the Arrow, but more often, we just meet up in San Bernardino. The Arrow is a fantastic idea and puts an abandoned ROW back to work, not to mention gentrifying the area. The depot has never looked better and I’m looking forward to seeing the interior when it’s finished.

Easy solution have Metrolink order diesel multiple units of the Flirt design configure them like the United Kingdom version and use them on the extended Redlands the Los Angeles Union Station San Bernardino and then turn them around as an Antelope Valley Line train to Lancaster in Kern County

Interesting part is, Arrow wasn't Metrolink's idea. It was a separate operation until the original agency handed it over to Metrolink. This whole thing shouldn't have been started to begin with imo with the exception of running SB/IEOC line trains to Redlands directly

3:32 Well there is noise becasue the are using the Stadler Flirt DMU (Diesel Multiple Unit). And horns are loud either way. Switching to EMU would have a significant change in noise though. This video is very informative. I never even knew about this line. If they were to have gotten EMU's instead, the noise problem could have been solved. But I guess the main problem is just the inconvenience of the whole thing. Very nice video. And I did here about the FLIRT H2 and thought it was a pretty cool concept. But if they do go through with this, it's going to a service that is not extremely know of, and very little people ride this service. But that Is all in the futures hands. I'm gonna stop typing now.

Metrolink to Redlands, Yucaipa, Calimesa would be great.

Run the DMU/ZEMU trainsets to Pomona-North and connect with the Foothill LRT (A-line).

Hi, thank you for the cool video and showcasing the issues with the Arrow. I am however confused why "just" extending Metrolink is seen as the "easier" option in the video & comments. If it would have been simpler & cheaper they would have probably done it? I assume that it was much cheaper to build it like this. Shorter platforms, lower requirements for the soil under the tracks (due to the lower weight of the rolling stock) and much cheaper rolling stock - both to buy and to operate. And yes, even if the extended the regular Metrolink service, they would have needed new trains. But instead of short, lightweight, off-the-shelve Stadler trains, they would have needed multi-coach, loco hauled, double decker trains with toilets onboard? And they might still be running with just a few people on board, so much worse on the long-term operational side as well. I would rather say the Arrow was built on the cheap. The biggest opportunity for improvement would be synchronized schedules. I don't get, why they aren't doing it. If the Arrow is the only service on the new line, it can run at any time. Making it synchronized with the Metrolink services at San Bernardino (i.e. arriving shortly before the LA bound train, leaving shortly after the train from LA Union), thus having only a few minutes of time lost in the interchange would make it much more attractive. It could even be a cross-plattform interchange. With this modifications, the cost-saving of building an "almost light rail" line instead of heavy rail metrolink could be combined with most of the advantages of direct trough running service, making it attractive for riders as well as economical to operate.

I think it would have been better as an extension of the San Bernardino Line to Redlands just as a one seat ride, not some separate line it just don’t make sense.

Extend the Metrolink trains to Redlands. Then build tracks to Ontario Airport, and run the Arrow trains between Redlands and the airport.

I thought it was failing because they expect people to hang their bikes from the ceiling

They should rename it to the "Aero Line" since it's transporting air.

Thank you for posting this. I had not even heard of the Arrow Line, although I live in southern California. I wonder if the news media has picked up this story.

Woah wait your that guy from IG cool video!

Arrow Line needs to be extended East. Go along Orange Bloosom Trail Lincoln St Station, Opal Ave Station, then south on Opal Ave. There's great opportunities for affordable eco-friendly housing along Opal Ave to 5th Ave. Go east along 5th Ave, Sand Canyon Rd/Yucaipa Bl Crafton Hills College Station, Yucaipa Bl/Glen Oaks Glen Oaks Station, Yucaipa Bl/6 th St Yucaipa Civic Center, Yucaipa Bl/California St Yucaipa Performing Arts Center YPAC Station. Later, it can be extended to Coachella Valley in phases.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like the only reason the arrow is its own line was so they could simply trial those hydrogen trains, and I’m all against it if it comes at the cost of using trains that are so far proven in other parts of the world to be less reliable and slower, in addition to providing less convenient service for those who need to go beyond San Bernardino.

Arrow Line needs to be extended west to Ontario Airport with light rail. Go south on E Street to National Orange Show/Inland Center Station, over 215 fwy Grant /Mt.Vernon SB Valley College Station, Mt. Vernon/Colton Colton Park Station, Valley Bl /Rancho Ave, Valley Bl/Pepper Ave Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Station, Valley Bl/Cedar Ave Bloomington Station, Sierra Ave Fontana Kaiser Station, Valley Bl/ Cherry Ave South Fontana Station, Ontario Mills Station, Toyota Arena Station along Concourse St, and finally Ontario Airport.

the arrow line should have another track one for northbound the other one for southbound

A higher frequency of trains, and more convenient transfers between the Orange County and San Bernardino lines would make it more competitive against the Route 8 bus operated by Omnitrans which runs about the same route as the Arrow Line.

"Guess who's back, Back again" -Eminem

Probably best to have extended the long trains, but with the short trains guaranteeing their connection, you could probably make up for that with better acceleration and shorter dwell times. But that would mean guaranteeing regular connections (it seems they’re arriving at xx:12, so have arrow depart at xx:15/20 and the other way the big trains depart at xx:45, so come in at xx:35/40)

I feel that your noise comparison wasn't quite accurate - you showed a brief clip of one of the metrolink cab cars compared to the arrow, but not the metrolink engine, which is arguably louder. Aside from that, good video.

Have you ever thought about higher frequency (15 min) and integrated transfers to Metrolink trains and feeder bus lines? In such a case, Arrow's small trains would be more suitable than Metrolink's 8 double-decker cars + 2 100 tonne locomotive trains. High frequency and convenient transfers are often more attractive than travel speed and direct connections at the expense of the above points. People don't want to wait at a station because they know they could have been driving. You just have to get them moving as quickly as possible (high frequency). It's a kind of psychological trick that people are satisfied as long as there is progress, which makes them more likely to choose the option in which they are moving constantly, even if it would take longer than the other option in which they would have to wait a long time beforehand. Combined with the fact that San Bernardino is a metropolitan area in its own right and probably not all potential passengers would want to travel 1.5 hours to Los Angeles in the morning and back again in the evening, a simple extension of the San Bernardino line with the same hourly frequency that Arrow already has would cause relatively little passenger growth and the 3 trains that go there in the morning and back in the evening are probably enough. More important would be a higher frequency so that you don't have to wait long for a train and quick transfer options to other trains AND buses.

you aren't going Redlands <-> LA in 1.5 hrs during rush hour. maybe closer to 2.5hrs, which is how long the train takes, but without the stress of bumper to bumper traffic. but i totally agree with a direct route. no one's using the train to go to San Bernardino. why would they

I completely agree that it would have been a lot better to simply extend existing service to Redlands. The DMU section is too small for decent ridership on it's own and forcing a transfer is inconvenient. That said, the FLIRT DMUs are very nice trains and I would love to see them deployed where they make sense in short shuttle services such as San Bernardino to Riverside or LA Union Station to Burbank Airport.

The County's toy train set! It's fun building routes with other people's money.

it should have just been an extension to Redlands instead for the San Bernadino Line Instead

Why did they not align the schedule to Metrolink instead of doing 40 min transfers? By the way this reminds me of what BART did with e-BART in the Antioch extension.

It would have been better to extend the Metrolink trains to Redlands than to use DMUs.

Damn. That probably fucked something up but it was cool looking

She’s blowing her whistle

i like that 476 6th chime

Hey look! It’s me!

Can you try “Metrolink Across Campus Avenue in Upland, CA” with Bitten By You please?

Hey look it’s me!

Nice 😂

The charger in the background tho.

USA has a beautiful countryside.