Metrolink on May 9 launched 16 additional trains, including four highly anticipated express trains on its two busiest lines.
Hundreds of excited riders showed up at stations along the Antelope Valley and San Bernardino lines to try out the six-month express pilot service to LA Union Station.
“These trains will save a commuter in a week five hours off a commute. That’s serious amount of time that you can spend with your family, you can spend doing nothing, you can read – whatever you want to do, we want to give you back the five hours a week,” said Metrolink Board Chairman Richard Katz.
And many riders are already making plans for the extra time on their hands now that the wheels are rolling on the express trains.
"I have only been riding for about a month and a half, and I’m thrilled. I’m thrilled about the express train. I have two small children – one who’s going to be four in July, one who just turned two the other day – and now I get to be with them about two hours more a day, which I love,” said Melody Bell, a San Bernardino Line commuter.
The full train ride on the San Bernardino Line will last 60 minutes as opposed to 90, and the ride on the Antelope Valley Line will take 90 minutes instead of two hours.
Metrolink expects ridership to increase in a climate where patience wears thin in congested traffic and gas prices continue to rise.
“With the price of fuel and the cost of the day-to-day commute, it even makes it that much more critical or important for people because once again, it not only gives them back time but hopefully gives them back something in their budget,” said Metrolink CEO John Fenton.
Besides the express trains, additional service includes earlier and extended train rides to Bob Hope Airport, late-night service on three lines and seasonal beach trains.
For more information on Metrolink’s new services and schedules, visit metrolinktrains.com
*Creative Productions conducted interviews and shot video.
Watch: More trains, faster service
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