Former commuter train service in Los Angeles, United States
For the current service in the San Francisco Bay Area, see
Caltrain
.
CalTrain
was a short-lived
commuter rail
system in the
Los Angeles
area which operated between 1982–1983. It connected downtown Los Angeles's
Union Station
with
Oxnard
in
Ventura County
, using the tracks of the
Southern Pacific Railroad
. It was the first local rail service in Los Angeles since 1961 and was a forerunner of the modern
Metrolink
Ventura County Line
. Service ended in the face of high costs, lower-than-expected ridership, a changing political climate, and staunch opposition from the Southern Pacific.
History
[
edit
]
CalTrain had its gestation in a 1973 study by the
Southern California Association of Governments
(SCAG), which recommended two daily roundtrips between Union Station and Oxnard. The train would use the Southern Pacific's
Coast Line
.
Amtrak
already operated a single long-distance train, the
Coast Starlight
, over the route. SP objected to the proposal, alleging that the service would disrupt freight service on the single-track line, leading to a protracted dispute before the
California Public Utilities Commission
(PUC).
[1]
The PUC ruled against the SP several times, with a final order in June 1982, ordering that SP operate the service beginning on October 18.
[2]
The
California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans) provided funding of $6 million for the service. Some of the money was to be spent on capital improvements, such as new station platforms. These would be located on Southern Pacific (SP) territory, prompting additional litigation between SP, Caltrans, and the PUC. The SP challenged the authority of the transportation agencies to construct these platforms on its property without its consent. After a ruling by the
Supreme Court of California
in favor of Caltrans the service proceeded, with the start date unchanged.
[3]
It was the first local rail service in Los Angeles since
Pacific Electric
discontinued operations on April 8, 1961.
[4]
CalTrain faced serious problems almost immediately.
George Deukmejian
replaced
Jerry Brown
as
Governor of California
on January 3, 1983. Deukmejian favored highway projects over public transit, and showed no enthusiasm for what many called a "pet project" of the former governor. Daily ridership stood at 300–350 passengers, disappointing Caltrans officials who hoped for 2,600 daily riders.
[5]
Additional issues remained in the disagreement between the state and the SP over the
tariff
that the state should pay to the SP for the use of its infrastructure. The state, together with local governments, was prepared to pay between $70,000-100,000 per month, while the SP insisted on a higher figure of $588,000. By February $200,000 remained of the original $6 million allocation, which did not include the $2?3 million potentially owed the SP should its figure be upheld.
[6]
Service ended on March 2, 1983, after storms damaged a trestle.
[1]
[7]
On March 11, the PUC indefinitely suspended the service - which was to be restored on March 14 - due to the dispute between Caltrans and the SP. The SP was ordered not to "remove or modify" the platforms and parking areas at the former stations.
[1]
[7]
The tariff dispute was further litigated, with the
Interstate Commerce Commission
eventually ruling in 1985 in favor of the SP. This ruling ended attempts to resurrect commuter rail service in southern California until Metrolink began operation with the opening of the Ventura County Line on October 26, 1992,
[8]
in which they assumed ownership of the corridor.
Three years later, service was gradually restored to the former CalTrain route which would continue over the next eight years. The
Coast Starlight
(which still served Glendale and Oxnard) added a Simi Valley stop on October 26, 1986.
[9]
On June 26, 1988, Amtrak extended one daily
San Diegan
round trip to Santa Barbara, restoring service to Van Nuys (Panorama City) and Chatsworth; a Burbank Airport stop was added in 1990.
[10]
[11]
Metrolink
Ventura County Line
service began on October 26, 1992, stopping at all former CalTrain stations (except Oxnard, which Metrolink began serving after the 1994 Northridge earthquake).
[12]
Equipment
[
edit
]
Los Angeles County refused to allow the use of its
El Camino
equipment, then stored at
Bell
, so Caltrans looked elsewhere. Throughout its short history CalTrain's equipment situation remained in flux. Initially CalTrain used
GE P30CH
diesel locomotives and single-level
Amfleet
coaches leased from Amtrak. Caltrans then leased four bilevel coaches from
Chicago
's
Regional Transportation Authority
to replace the Amfleet coaches. These had barely entered service before the SP ordered all P30CHs in the country sidelined because of a derailment in Texas. CalTrain had to use
EMD GP9s
and
bilevel coaches
from the SP's
Peninsula Commute
equipment pool. The Chicago cars could now not be used because they required
head end power
(HEP) for heating and the SP's locomotives used
steam heat
, which was not compatible.
[13]
[2]
[
page needed
]
Station stops
[
edit
]
When service began in 1982 intermediate stops included
Simi Valley
,
Panorama City
, and
Glendale
. Planned additional stops included
Camarillo
,
Moorpark
,
Chatsworth
,
Northridge
,
Burbank Airport
, and
Burbank
.
[14]
Chatsworth opened on December 29, 1982.
[15]
Service to Moorpark began in early 1983; service to Burbank Airport began in February 1983, just prior to the service's discontinuance.
[16]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Decision 83-03-027"
(PDF)
. California Public Utilities Commission. March 11, 1983.
- ^
a
b
Hobbs, Charles P. (2014).
Hidden History of Transportation in Los Angeles
.
The History Press
.
ISBN
978-1-6261-9671-1
.
- ^
Smith, Ed (October 13, 1982).
"Railroad Stay Denied: Commuter Service Given Go-Ahead"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. Retrieved
February 3,
2013
– via Google News.
- ^
Smith, Ed (October 18, 1982).
"87 Take Inaugural Oxnard-to-LA Train"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. Retrieved
August 9,
2013
– via Google News.
- ^
Smith, Ed (January 5, 1983).
"CalTrain End Eyed By State"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. Retrieved
August 9,
2013
.
[
dead link
]
- ^
Hartmann, Bea (February 3, 1983).
"Demise of CalTrain Called Imminent"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. Retrieved
August 9,
2013
– via Google News.
- ^
a
b
"State PUC dumps commuter train"
.
Santa Cruz Sentinel
. March 13, 1983 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^
"ICC Ruling Casts Doubt On LA-Oxnard CalTrain"
.
Pacific RailNews
. No. 259. June 1985. p. 4. Archived from
the original
on September 11, 2014 – via TrainLife.
- ^
Rail Passenger Development Plan: 1988 Through 1993 Fiscal Years
. California Department of Transportation - Division of Mass Transportation. 1988. p. 48 – via Google Books.
- ^
Rail Passenger Development Plan: 1990 Through 1995 Fiscal Years
. California Department of Transportation - Division of Mass Transportation. 1988. pp. 60?61 – via Google Books.
- ^
"Burbank?Airport, CA (BUR)"
.
Great American Stations
. Amtrak.
- ^
"History of Metrolink"
. Southern California Regional Rail Authority. 2017.
- ^
Caldwell, Charles M. (February 1983).
"Southern Pacific"
.
Pacific RailNews
. Vol. 22, no. 2. p. 12.
- ^
Caltrans
.
"CalTrain train schedule 1981"
. Retrieved
February 2,
2013
.
- ^
"State Officials Dedicate New Train Station"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. December 29, 1982
. Retrieved
February 2,
2013
– via Google News.
- ^
"It's Here"
.
Oxnard Press-Courier
. February 16, 1983
. Retrieved
February 2,
2013
– via Google News.