Santa Clarita City Councilwoman Marsha McLean announced a win for Metro and Metrolink commuters Tuesday, with news that the county’s transportation agency would receive a $20 million grant to support operations by the statewide rail service — potentially averting cuts in service to the Santa Clarita Valley.
The L.A. County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, better known locally as Metro, had contemplated drastic cuts in its rail service to the Antelope Valley Line, in its proposed schedule for next year.
Metro is the regional operator for Metrolink, which operates as a statewide rail agency. As such, their budgets are interconnected, according to regional transportation officials.
Agency officials said last month that unless Metro receives help from California’s Flexible State Rail Assistance fund, it would have to make major reductions on the line that runs from Downtown Los Angeles to the Antelope Valley through the Santa Clarita Valley.
Metro got the grant approved to “provide two years of operations funding to Metrolink to maintain current service levels through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” according to a California State Transportation Agency funding list released Nov. 5.
Now, it’s on the public to make sure that’s where the money goes, McLean said Tuesday.
“We have to make sure it is used, and we need to be vigilant that the money is spent as intended,” McLean said, referring to a Metrolink budget hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday. “Too many people rely on dependable Metrolink trains to get to and from work reliably. So, I’m happy that after a lot of work and lobbying Sacramento, that that money was then given to keep Metrolink hopefully on the same schedule that it has.”
The proposed cuts locally included a reduction from 30 to 22 weekday trains, and only four weekend trains.
The previous schedule announcing the reduced service has been taken down from Metrolink’s website.
Meredith Yeoman, director of communications for Metrolink, did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment on the proposed service cuts.
Both agencies referred to declining ridership and federal funding cuts as the financial challenges they’re facing with the coming year’s spending plan.
“The public hearing and board action on Metrolink’s proposed (fiscal year) budget originally scheduled to take place (in October) were postponed until the Nov. 13 board meeting,” Yeoman wrote in an email last month. “This change in the budget approval timeline means that the current schedule will remain in place through the end of the calendar year, and any future service adjustments will take effect no sooner than Jan. 4.”
A spokeswoman for Metro was not immediately available Wednesday afternoon. The rail cuts proposed were described as a means of “protecting the customer experience,” in a previous email.
“Metro remains committed to the people who use Metrolink as an integral part of their lives,” according to a statement on behalf of Metro, sent by Maya Pogoda of Metro’s media relations division, in response to a request for comment on the cuts last month. “Regional rail plays a vital role for passengers across Southern California. Lower-than-projected revenue, declining state and federal funding and ongoing mechanical and service reliability problems, are driving the proposed service reductions for Metrolink.”
Anyone from the public can attend the in-person hearing at 10 a.m. Friday in the Metro Board Room at 1 Gateway Plaza, in Downtown L.A. or they can watch online with a link that will be available at bit.ly/4sX51vs. Comments for the public hearing must be made in person or submitted via email ahead of time to [email protected].
