Antelope Valley Line

Antelope Valley Line
Andrewaronoshn · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Name	Antelope Valley Line
Type	Commuter rail
System	Metrolink (California)
Status	Operational
Locale	Los Angeles County, California; Ventura County, California
Start	Los Angeles Union Station
End	Lancaster, California
Stations	14
Open	1994
Owner	Southern California Regional Rail Authority
Operator	Amtrak California; Metrolink (California)
Stock	EMD F59PH; Bilevel Coach
Linelength	76.6 miles

Contents

Antelope Valley Line is a commuter rail route in Southern California connecting Los Angeles Union Station with Lancaster, California via the San Fernando Valley and the Santa Clarita Valley. Operated by Metrolink (California) under the auspices of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, the line serves major hubs including Burbank–Bob Hope Airport and Palmdale, California. It integrates with regional transit networks such as Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York-style intermodal nodes, and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner corridors.

Route description

The route departs Los Angeles Union Station and follows the Southern Pacific Railroad corridor through the Pico-Union and Koreatown, Los Angeles areas before traversing the San Fernando Valley via the Van Nuys and Sun Valley corridors to reach Burbank, California. Continuing north, the line crosses the Santa Susana Pass into the Santa Clarita Valley, serving Sylmar, Los Angeles and Saugus, California neighborhoods en route to Newhall, California. North of Santa Clarita, California the alignment runs through the Santa Clarita River corridor and parallels State Route 14 (California), passing through Acton, California and Lancaster, California suburbs, with a key stop at Palmdale, California. The corridor interfaces with freight operations by Union Pacific Railroad and shares infrastructure near BNSF Railway junctions and Los Angeles Junction Railway connections.

Planning for the line traces to regional transit initiatives involving the Southern California Association of Governments and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the late 1980s, with federal funding influenced by Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 allocations and Federal Transit Administration programs. The route launched in 1994 under Metrolink (California) operations, expanding service during infrastructure projects tied to the Northridge earthquake recovery and coordinated with Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority shuttle services. Subsequent milestones included capacity enhancements financed through Measure R (Los Angeles County), station additions aligned with Transit-Oriented Development policies championed by California Department of Transportation initiatives, and grade separation projects supported by the California High-Speed Rail Authority planning dialogues. Historic incidents affecting the corridor prompted safety upgrades overseen by the National Transportation Safety Board, while legislative actions by the California State Legislature shaped funding for capital improvements.

Service patterns include peak-direction commuter runs, midday reverse-commute trips, and weekend schedules coordinated with Amtrak Pacific Surfliner frequencies and Los Angeles Metro B Line and Los Angeles Metro Rail connections. Operations are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration rules for commuter rail and utilize dispatching agreements with Union Pacific Railroad for shared trackage rights. Fare integration uses the Metrolink fare system and interoperates with TAP (smart card), enabling transfers to Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority buses and Antelope Valley Transit Authority services. Crew management and labor relations involve unions such as the Transport Workers Union of America and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

Notable stations include Los Angeles Union Station, Burbank–Bob Hope Airport, Sun Valley, Sylmar/San Fernando, Santa Clarita (Newhall), Palmdale, California, and Lancaster, California. Several stations feature multimodal connections to Metrolink (California) feeder shuttles, Antelope Valley Transit Authority, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus lines, and airport shuttles serving Hollywood Burbank Airport. Accessibility upgrades comply with Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 standards and seismic retrofits reference California Building Standards Code. Park-and-ride facilities link to Interstate 5 (California) and State Route 14 (California) commuter corridors.

Equipment historically includes EMD F59PH diesel locomotives mated to Bilevel Coach bi-level passenger cars produced by Bombardier Transportation and Nippon Sharyo rolling stock used across Metrolink (California). Modernization programs evaluated EMD F125 units and Siemens Charger locomotives as part of fleet renewal in alignment with California Air Resources Board emission targets and Federal Railroad Administration compliance. Maintenance is performed at Metrolink Division yards and coordinated with Amtrak equipment standards where interoperation occurs.

Ridership trends reflect commuter demand from the Antelope Valley and Palmdale, California growth areas into Los Angeles County, California employment centers, influenced by regional housing patterns and Southern California Association of Governments growth forecasts. Performance metrics reported to the Southern California Regional Rail Authority include on-time performance, mean distance between failures, and ridership per revenue hour; these metrics relate to regional initiatives like Measure M (Los Angeles County) and infrastructure grants from the Federal Transit Administration. Service disruptions have been attributable to weather events in the Sierra Pelona Mountains and freight congestion managed with Union Pacific Railroad scheduling agreements.

Planned improvements reference grade separations, station infill, and double-tracking projects coordinated with Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and local jurisdictions such as Los Angeles County, California and Los Angeles City Council. Proposals evaluated by the California High-Speed Rail Authority and Southern California Association of Governments include potential electrification studies, integration with the California High-Speed Rail vision, and transit-oriented development around key nodes like Palmdale, California and Lancaster, California. Capital funding strategies draw on ballot measures such as Measure M (Los Angeles County) and federal discretionary grants from the Federal Transit Administration and Department of Transportation (United States), with stakeholder engagement involving Antelope Valley Transit Authority and local planning agencies.

Category:Metrolink (California) lines