the North/South station situation is a result of Boston's peculiar place in history. If it helps you feel any better, folks have been frustrated by the lack of a north-south rail connection for almost two hundred years.
I always get assured by people especially Bostonians that the lack of North-South connection isnt a big deal because you can just get a subway train to connect...
@@BigBlueMan118 I mean, that's what the first streetcar in Boston was built for. ;) Still, it sure doesn't help anybody who is trying to get from say, New York to Maine to have to get off the train at South Station, that the Red Line two stops, transfer to the Green Line, go to North Station, and board a different Amtrak.
@@StripeyType you dont need to change subway line twice though, you can just get off at Back Bay Station and change to the Orange Line subway which goes directly to Boston South Station.
@@BigBlueMan118 yup. But if you don't already know that, and you make the reasonable decision any out of towner might make, to take the train to the *nearest* terminus, you're in for a "treat." I live here; I love the T. I see all the ways we might be able to do a little bit better for everybody, but where we don't, principally because of other - usually political - priorities. The Big Dig was one great big missed opportunity. It is unlikely to ever happen again in our lifetimes, but the North-South Rail Connection Problem could have finally been solved, after 200 years. I have a whole rant. I probably shouldn't spam the comments of an unrelated video from a person I respect. XD
Good to hear that LA is rapidly developing their passenger rail. Despite their autocentric history, they're making incredible progress with light rail expansions and more frequent commuter rail. I'm from NYC, LA's main rival, and our governor just killed a tolling plan called congestion pricing that would have given our MTA an extra $15 billion in funding per year because some loud suburbanites made a few complaints. Moral of the story: always run more trains. Just subbed as I can't wait for the next video about the Riverside line to come out, as I also have my own quasi urbanist branch line review series named Fixing Your Branch Line.
Great video! At least Metrolink is trying to improve! But, even Tri-Rail, down in Miami, is a little bit more frequent compared to some of the Metrolink lines.
One thing is, you said this is a "game changer", and I believe that sometimes small increases in surface can lead to a positive feedback loop. If better service attracts even a small amount of riders, it will create more demand, leading to more service, leading to more demand, etc. I don't know if these changes will specifically do it, but they might be what we are looking for!
But, as was said, this is only the first phase of a larger plan. It implies additional upgrades regardless of the near future ridership. Maybe once the whole plan is implemented, they will make needed adjustments based on the resulting ridership numbers. Either way, it's exciting stuff.
I ride the VC line from Burbank Airport to Moorpark and back when I fly to visit my parents and having more service on there going all the way to Moorpark is going to be VERY NICE! Gives me a lot more flight options which I am a huge fan of. One thing to keep in mind at Moorpark is there is the VISTA bus that you can take to Moorpark College, or take to the Thousand Oaks Transit Center to transfer to other buses. Also, in Moorpark is a small 4-track yard that they store equipment in, so terminating trains there made the most sense!
The reason why weekend trains have a “1” in front of the numbers is because some lines have can two of the same number. For example, there's a SB weekday train 352, when there's already an SB weekend train 352. This is why the weekend numbers have a 1 in front of it, so the current 352 will become 1352. Another thing is maybe the Riverside Line should have kept the afternoon train, make that 419, and maybe the proposed 419 as 417. They could also squeeze in one more outbound train in the evening, and number it 418. The riverside line can at least have Saturday service, two outbounds, two inbounds.
I am very happy with the updates to the OC line, the late night train on weekdays is a huge improvement. I wish we got one for Saturday or Sunday, I guess I can take advantage of the late train from Oceanside on the weekends.
I agree that this is generally positive news. I live closest to the Perris South station and I am very glad to see the increased mid day options on the 91/PVL live. I did not even realize how many possible connections there were to the southbound IEOC line. The thing that bothers me though is the lack of service between Riverside and San Bernardino. There are only four daily round trips on this segment and they are all south in the very early morning and north in the evening. We need reverse directional and off peak service here so I can connect in riverside and continue going north. Also, that one later weekend service does benefit me, but I am still disappointed in the overall lack of weekend service. And not that it effects me, but I also think those additional SB line trains should go as far as Pomona so they can connect to the new light rail extension.
It would appear by that analysis that they must've prioritized the ability to transfer from 91 to IEOC, which is probably one of the more useful options, but still, there are obvious gaps elsewhere. Yes, the current weekend service is abysmal.
It's a step in the right direction, but only the first step. I wish weekend trains from Oceanside were better. How much are they planning to improve service before the '28 Olympics?
This timetable is nothing like the Manchester Metrolink, of course. Actually the San Bernardido line timetable is scarily similar to the Swansea/Cardiff Central to London Paddington timetable, except of course that this is a much longer, intercity route.
I really like the idea of having the pulse schedule throughout the day but they are cutting too many important trips on the VC line and unfortunately I need to find another way to get to work. There's an outbound train at 6:30am then the next metrolink train is at 8:30pm. How does that count as pulse? That's a 2 hour gap and everyone is now late for work! also their last two inbound trains leave moorpark at 3:36pm and 5:11pm. Again how is this doing what they said it would??? Also big note about the codeshare trains. While you can board some surfliner trains on the VC route with a regular metrolink card, you can't do so if you travel with a bike.
Quick question: when service increases to covina on the san bernadino line, will that service length increase once the gold line is extended to pomona (north)?
The changes i was hoping for was a morning and evening train both directions on the weekends for the pink line.... a later southbound weekend train on the orange line... weekend service on the purple line... and trains finally running to Santa Barbara on the yellow line.
It'll help but it's one of numerous bottlenecks throughout the system. Metrolink has single track portions it shares with freight rail throughout the system.
Now if they would follow CalTrain's example and electrify. CalTrain also doubled their service frequency at the same time, going to 30min off peak vs 1hr and 15min peak vs 30min. The only commuter rail I know of with better frequency in the western half of the US is RTD, they run 15min off peak and 10min peak, but only on the A-line.
Excuse me, but NCTD Coaster is the most "bi-directional" regional railroad one can imagine, because SANDAG owns the tracks and nearly all freight trains are confined to hours between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Off-peak trains only run one or two hours apart, but it is still a better option to either the NCTD or MTS buses.
Amazing video! You made many great points and I appreciate all the detailed information given. It's such a shame that they only have 1 IEOC train to oceanside now. That's literally my only complaint with this schedule, it's pretty ridiculous that they couldn't find time to get another set there, at any time of the day. One note at 3:03 you mentioned how only some Amtrak "codeshare trains" are eligible for the Rail 2 Rail too. It's actually just two documents that mean the same exact thing lol, those 5 northbound and 5 southbound trains are all the Amtrak trains that run. Last thing I wanted to point out that I find funny, Metrolink and UP are at each others throats right now. Metrolink isn't letting UP run the trains they want on the AV line, and UP won't let metrolink run their riverside trains.
Yeah, the main reason for the lack of modern passenger rail service in the USA is due to the obstacles from the handful of private freight railroad companies companies who own the vast majority of the track ROW. It's pathetic. I'm glad Metrolink isn't rolling over for UP. UP is getting some of their own medicine.
Maybe they just assume people going to Oceanside will transfer to the OC line? Also, that's interesting about the coseshare trains, they must've added the rest of them recently since the paper schedule I have from last year only shows 2 Amtrak trains on the VC line.
I wish that Metrolink and LA Metro complimented service better. The A Line will be extended to Pomona (North) Metrolink and later Montclair Station. A Line and Metrolink will share services at 3 stations in a row (Pomona (North), Claremont, and Montclair). There is NO REASON why someone taking Metrolink at those stations now would remain on Metrolink. A Line trains are more frequent (every 15-20 minutes ) and cheaper than Metrolink (only $1.75), and it serves more job centers. Metrolink should have service at Pomona (North) and Claremont end and have Montclair be a transfer for A Line riders needing to continue to travel into the Inland Empire. By no longer stopping at Pomona (North) and Claremont, the Metrolink trans would run faster and possibly more reliably.
Metrolink is much faster if you want to go from Claremont to LA. Both rail lines serve different rider constituencies. They don't really duplicate service. They actually compliment each other. I have friends in Claremont. If they want to go to LA, they take Metrolink. But in the future, they can take the A line to places like Arcadia.
I do agree the SB line does have a lot of stations very close together in a row, but I feel that would just make things more inconvenient for people in Pomona and Claremont. Maybe once Metrolink switches to multiple units with better acceleration that wouldn't be as big a problem.
Do you honestly think Metrolink is going to stop service to Claremont, a college town with SEVEN major universities within walking distance of the station?
You assume that the fare will stay the same. With the implementation of “TAP to Exit” at Metro, there will be the ability at Metro to implement distance-based fares, so it is very possible that the Metrolink SB Line and Metro A line fares will be made similar. You have not been paying attention to the warnings by SBCTA that they cannot fund the LRT service at the same level that Los Angeles Metro will. This means that the LRT trains will not be operating every 15 to 20 minutes past Claremont and possibly Pomona-North, since Claremont does not want to be the terminus for any LRT trains. The trains operate to different destinations and adding a transfer penalty to a person boarding at Montclair or Claremont or Pomona-North who wishes to travel to a destination in Covina, Baldwin Park, El Monte and/or Cal State Los Angeles is quite a disgraceful thing to do after 30 years of daily service. But given the anti-transit behavior of most of our elected officials in this region, I won’t be surprised if your viewpoint is adopted.
There is no indication that the stations that will be duplicated on the San Bernardino Metrolink line and the A Line will have reduced or eliminated service on them. People don't typically travel between these stations on the Metrolink as is; most people who use them are heading to or from Union Station.
metrolinks strongest soldier 🫡
This is amazing and such a positive change when improvements in transit around SoCal seem to crawl at a snail's pace.
A very very slow snail.
the North/South station situation is a result of Boston's peculiar place in history. If it helps you feel any better, folks have been frustrated by the lack of a north-south rail connection for almost two hundred years.
I always get assured by people especially Bostonians that the lack of North-South connection isnt a big deal because you can just get a subway train to connect...
200 years LIRR still hasn’t reached Boston
@@BigBlueMan118 I mean, that's what the first streetcar in Boston was built for. ;)
Still, it sure doesn't help anybody who is trying to get from say, New York to Maine to have to get off the train at South Station, that the Red Line two stops, transfer to the Green Line, go to North Station, and board a different Amtrak.
@@StripeyType you dont need to change subway line twice though, you can just get off at Back Bay Station and change to the Orange Line subway which goes directly to Boston South Station.
@@BigBlueMan118 yup. But if you don't already know that, and you make the reasonable decision any out of towner might make, to take the train to the *nearest* terminus, you're in for a "treat."
I live here; I love the T. I see all the ways we might be able to do a little bit better for everybody, but where we don't, principally because of other - usually political - priorities.
The Big Dig was one great big missed opportunity. It is unlikely to ever happen again in our lifetimes, but the North-South Rail Connection Problem could have finally been solved, after 200 years. I have a whole rant. I probably shouldn't spam the comments of an unrelated video from a person I respect. XD
Good to hear that LA is rapidly developing their passenger rail. Despite their autocentric history, they're making incredible progress with light rail expansions and more frequent commuter rail. I'm from NYC, LA's main rival, and our governor just killed a tolling plan called congestion pricing that would have given our MTA an extra $15 billion in funding per year because some loud suburbanites made a few complaints. Moral of the story: always run more trains. Just subbed as I can't wait for the next video about the Riverside line to come out, as I also have my own quasi urbanist branch line review series named Fixing Your Branch Line.
Hey great to see you here! Any chance we'll hear about the new Metrolink schedule in the next Periodical?
@@djpetesake Maybe, depending on whether there's an article on it
Great video! At least Metrolink is trying to improve! But, even Tri-Rail, down in Miami, is a little bit more frequent compared to some of the Metrolink lines.
One thing is, you said this is a "game changer", and I believe that sometimes small increases in surface can lead to a positive feedback loop. If better service attracts even a small amount of riders, it will create more demand, leading to more service, leading to more demand, etc. I don't know if these changes will specifically do it, but they might be what we are looking for!
But, as was said, this is only the first phase of a larger plan. It implies additional upgrades regardless of the near future ridership. Maybe once the whole plan is implemented, they will make needed adjustments based on the resulting ridership numbers. Either way, it's exciting stuff.
I ride the VC line from Burbank Airport to Moorpark and back when I fly to visit my parents and having more service on there going all the way to Moorpark is going to be VERY NICE! Gives me a lot more flight options which I am a huge fan of. One thing to keep in mind at Moorpark is there is the VISTA bus that you can take to Moorpark College, or take to the Thousand Oaks Transit Center to transfer to other buses. Also, in Moorpark is a small 4-track yard that they store equipment in, so terminating trains there made the most sense!
The reason why weekend trains have a “1” in front of the numbers is because some lines have can two of the same number. For example, there's a SB weekday train 352, when there's already an SB weekend train 352. This is why the weekend numbers have a 1 in front of it, so the current 352 will become 1352. Another thing is maybe the Riverside Line should have kept the afternoon train, make that 419, and maybe the proposed 419 as 417. They could also squeeze in one more outbound train in the evening, and number it 418. The riverside line can at least have Saturday service, two outbounds, two inbounds.
I will be happy when I don't have to drive 30 miles to a station, when the tracks are two miles away.
I am very happy with the updates to the OC line, the late night train on weekdays is a huge improvement. I wish we got one for Saturday or Sunday, I guess I can take advantage of the late train from Oceanside on the weekends.
I agree that this is generally positive news. I live closest to the Perris South station and I am very glad to see the increased mid day options on the 91/PVL live. I did not even realize how many possible connections there were to the southbound IEOC line. The thing that bothers me though is the lack of service between Riverside and San Bernardino. There are only four daily round trips on this segment and they are all south in the very early morning and north in the evening. We need reverse directional and off peak service here so I can connect in riverside and continue going north. Also, that one later weekend service does benefit me, but I am still disappointed in the overall lack of weekend service. And not that it effects me, but I also think those additional SB line trains should go as far as Pomona so they can connect to the new light rail extension.
It would appear by that analysis that they must've prioritized the ability to transfer from 91 to IEOC, which is probably one of the more useful options, but still, there are obvious gaps elsewhere. Yes, the current weekend service is abysmal.
Best way to get from San Bernardino and Riverside is probably Onnitrans route 215.
Bro got yuris revenge in here ? Thanks for the memories.
Good information thank you.
They took away all commuters to board trains between 3 and 5pm from Orange county to Riverside. Huge gap when people getting off work.
I can actually use this to commute w/ my bike now 8)
It's a step in the right direction, but only the first step. I wish weekend trains from Oceanside were better. How much are they planning to improve service before the '28 Olympics?
MBTA is pretty good a regional rail. Only issue is that it completely splits the north and south regions…
6:06 My metrolink station is irvine and I really wish there were reverse service weekend trains for riverside or san bernardino daytrips
YES
Huh guess I’m used more
Mostly good news, but as someone who also used Metrolink for my commute to LA - I hate that the frequencies during commuter hours have _decreased_
@@hackman-hackman Yes, I've seen flyers opposing the new schedule for that reason
This timetable is nothing like the Manchester Metrolink, of course.
Actually the San Bernardido line timetable is scarily similar to the Swansea/Cardiff Central to London Paddington timetable, except of course that this is a much longer, intercity route.
I really like the idea of having the pulse schedule throughout the day but they are cutting too many important trips on the VC line and unfortunately I need to find another way to get to work. There's an outbound train at 6:30am then the next metrolink train is at 8:30pm. How does that count as pulse? That's a 2 hour gap and everyone is now late for work! also their last two inbound trains leave moorpark at 3:36pm and 5:11pm. Again how is this doing what they said it would???
Also big note about the codeshare trains. While you can board some surfliner trains on the VC route with a regular metrolink card, you can't do so if you travel with a bike.
I was going to mention that, as somebody who usually has a bike, the code share trains are somewhat useless in that respect.
Congrats LA! Metra needs to take notes.
baby steps
Quick question: when service increases to covina on the san bernadino line, will that service length increase once the gold line is extended to pomona (north)?
I think those Covina turns will run mostly empty.
I question it as well, since Cal State and El Monte are already also served by the Silver Line & Silver Streak
It’s so annoying how infrequent Metrolink is right now. Also disappointed that the one line I actually use is the one that wasn’t changed 😭
The changes i was hoping for was a morning and evening train both directions on the weekends for the pink line.... a later southbound weekend train on the orange line... weekend service on the purple line... and trains finally running to Santa Barbara on the yellow line.
I agree, the pink (IEOC) line needs more services in the early morning. 7:30am into Oceanside just isn't early enough.
Well, they did say this was only the first phase, which implies more changes are coming, so you might still get your wish.
Waiting for that video where you ride the San Bernardino line express train to Redlands
Wouldn't a lot of this be fixed if they just accelerated the link program or whatever its called enabling through-running through LA Union?
It'll help but it's one of numerous bottlenecks throughout the system. Metrolink has single track portions it shares with freight rail throughout the system.
The bigger problem for effective modern passenger rail service in the USA has been the obstacles by the handful of private freight railroad companies.
cmon the purple is cool too though
I love the purple! I'm glad they've been bringing it back on the newest refurbished Bombardier cars.
Please make that song.
Now if they would follow CalTrain's example and electrify. CalTrain also doubled their service frequency at the same time, going to 30min off peak vs 1hr and 15min peak vs 30min. The only commuter rail I know of with better frequency in the western half of the US is RTD, they run 15min off peak and 10min peak, but only on the A-line.
They don't own all the tracks they run on
Excuse me, but NCTD Coaster is the most "bi-directional" regional railroad one can imagine, because SANDAG owns the tracks and nearly all freight trains are confined to hours between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. Off-peak trains only run one or two hours apart, but it is still a better option to either the NCTD or MTS buses.
Amazing video! You made many great points and I appreciate all the detailed information given. It's such a shame that they only have 1 IEOC train to oceanside now. That's literally my only complaint with this schedule, it's pretty ridiculous that they couldn't find time to get another set there, at any time of the day.
One note at 3:03 you mentioned how only some Amtrak "codeshare trains" are eligible for the Rail 2 Rail too. It's actually just two documents that mean the same exact thing lol, those 5 northbound and 5 southbound trains are all the Amtrak trains that run.
Last thing I wanted to point out that I find funny, Metrolink and UP are at each others throats right now. Metrolink isn't letting UP run the trains they want on the AV line, and UP won't let metrolink run their riverside trains.
Yeah, the main reason for the lack of modern passenger rail service in the USA is due to the obstacles from the handful of private freight railroad companies companies who own the vast majority of the track ROW. It's pathetic. I'm glad Metrolink isn't rolling over for UP. UP is getting some of their own medicine.
Maybe they just assume people going to Oceanside will transfer to the OC line? Also, that's interesting about the coseshare trains, they must've added the rest of them recently since the paper schedule I have from last year only shows 2 Amtrak trains on the VC line.
Are they still doing SCORE?
Based on the screenshot at 1:13 I would believe so
This expansion of service is part of SCORE, I believe.
I wish that Metrolink and LA Metro complimented service better. The A Line will be extended to Pomona (North) Metrolink and later Montclair Station. A Line and Metrolink will share services at 3 stations in a row (Pomona (North), Claremont, and Montclair). There is NO REASON why someone taking Metrolink at those stations now would remain on Metrolink. A Line trains are more frequent (every 15-20 minutes ) and cheaper than Metrolink (only $1.75), and it serves more job centers.
Metrolink should have service at Pomona (North) and Claremont end and have Montclair be a transfer for A Line riders needing to continue to travel into the Inland Empire. By no longer stopping at Pomona (North) and Claremont, the Metrolink trans would run faster and possibly more reliably.
Metrolink is much faster if you want to go from Claremont to LA. Both rail lines serve different rider constituencies. They don't really duplicate service. They actually compliment each other.
I have friends in Claremont. If they want to go to LA, they take Metrolink. But in the future, they can take the A line to places like Arcadia.
I do agree the SB line does have a lot of stations very close together in a row, but I feel that would just make things more inconvenient for people in Pomona and Claremont. Maybe once Metrolink switches to multiple units with better acceleration that wouldn't be as big a problem.
Do you honestly think Metrolink is going to stop service to Claremont, a college town with SEVEN major universities within walking distance of the station?
You assume that the fare will stay the same. With the implementation of “TAP to Exit” at Metro, there will be the ability at Metro to implement distance-based fares, so it is very possible that the Metrolink SB Line and Metro A line fares will be made similar.
You have not been paying attention to the warnings by SBCTA that they cannot fund the LRT service at the same level that Los Angeles Metro will. This means that the LRT trains will not be operating every 15 to 20 minutes past Claremont and possibly Pomona-North, since Claremont does not want to be the terminus for any LRT trains.
The trains operate to different destinations and adding a transfer penalty to a person boarding at Montclair or Claremont or Pomona-North who wishes to travel to a destination in Covina, Baldwin Park, El Monte and/or Cal State Los Angeles is quite a disgraceful thing to do after 30 years of daily service.
But given the anti-transit behavior of most of our elected officials in this region, I won’t be surprised if your viewpoint is adopted.
There is no indication that the stations that will be duplicated on the San Bernardino Metrolink line and the A Line will have reduced or eliminated service on them. People don't typically travel between these stations on the Metrolink as is; most people who use them are heading to or from Union Station.
Need that chris brown inspired song to drop on streaming
Can somebody just make an AI generated version so I don't have to do the work? lol
I hate how they painted the bombardiers grey and not white like train car 187
@@Lucrativecris Yeah, I think they were trying to match the stainless steel of the Rotems
ATLEAST METROLINK DOESN'T OWN 50 YR EQUTMENT THAT IS BROKEN AND MAKES DTR WAIT ABOUT HMM 59 MINUTES