Ventura County Line
| Ventura County Line | |
|---|---|
|
The Metrolink station at Chatsworth | |
| Overview | |
| Type | Commuter rail line |
| System | Metrolink |
| Status | Operating |
| Locale | Greater Los Angeles Area and Ventura County |
| Termini |
Los Angeles Union Station East Ventura |
| Stations | 12 |
| Daily ridership | 3,950 (2012)[1] |
| Operation | |
| Operator(s) | Metrolink |
| Character | Elevated and surface-level |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 70.9 miles (114.1 km) (average length between stations: 6.445 miles) |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) |
| Operating speed | 39.22 mph (63.12 km/h) (average for trains that travel the full line length on Mon-Fri) |
The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system.[2]
Schedules
Metrolink trains on the Ventura County Line run weekdays only, mostly during peak commuter hours, and so with limited midday service. From Union Station—Downtown Los Angeles (as 7-2011):
- East Ventura
- six trains total at peak hours, in the peak direction only (3 south-AM; 3 north PM) each weekday, running to East Ventura station (in the community of Montalvo) — northern end of line.
- Moorpark
- four trains each weekday run to Moorpark Station (far western Simi Valley) — also station for Amtrak Pacific Surfliner. Trains of the six East Ventura runs also stop here.
- Chatsworth
- three trains each weekday run to Chatsworth Station (western SFValley) — major transit hub, with the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner, the Metro Orange Line (6-2012) and Metro Local valley bus lines, the LADOT Commuter Express service; and buses from Santa Clarita Transit, and Simi Valley Transit. Trains of the six East Ventura and four Moorpark runs also stop here.
- Airport
- six trains each weekday run to Burbank-Bob Hope Airport (900 numbered series).
Other service
Service is augmented during midday and on weekends by the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner line, serving most of the Metrolink stations on the Ventura County Line.
- Airport
Additional airport shuttle service operates between Union Station and Bob Hope Airport station as the Burbank-Bob Hope Airport Line—BUR. Metrolink numbers Airport Line trains in the 900 series.[3]
Tracks
Metrolink owns the tracks between Moorpark and Los Angeles Union Station. It uses the Coast Line of the Union Pacific Railroad between Moorpark and Oxnard where the Santa Paula Branch splits from the rest of the Coast Line. The East Ventura Station and layover facility are on the Santa Paula branch line.
History
Service on this line began in 1992 as one of Metrolink's original three lines, with service from Moorpark to Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles. The line was extended to Camarillo and Oxnard in 1994 after the Northridge earthquake, then to East Ventura in 2002.
Accidents
2008 Chatsworth train collision
At 4:23 p.m. on September 12, 2008, 25 people were killed in a collision between Metrolink commuter train 111 and a freight train. At least 130 people were injured, with at least one dying later at a hospital. The crash occurred on the Ventura County Line near Heather Lee Lane, south of the Ronald Reagan (118) Freeway and east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. Both locomotives, the leading car of the commuter train, and seven cars of the freight train were derailed.
2015 Oxnard train derailment
On 24 February 2015, according to Oxnard Police Sergeant Denise Shadinger, a Metrolink commuter train traveling from Ventura County to Los Angeles hit a road vehicle near Oxnard, California; she initially said there was an unspecified number of injuries. The incident was reported at 5:44 A.M. Three cars derailed, at least one vehicle was fully engulfed at some point, and the three derailed cars were on their sides; the locomotive was still upright. Little but scorched, mangled wreckage in an intersection and on the tracks was left of the truck; Oxnard Fire Department battalion chief Sergio Martinez said the driver fled the scene unhurt but was found and taken into custody. News helicopters and footage from CNN affiliate KABC showed footage of triage tarps lying in the 5th Street (SR 34) where on-scene firefighters were treating victims and monitoring the scene. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), in a tweet, acknowledged the incident and stated they were launching an investigation.[4][5][6][7][8][9] The train engineer died a week later and 29 others were injured. A week after the incident, an Amtrak train collided with a vehicle in the same area as the first crash.[10]
References
- ↑ "Metrolink Fact Sheet for June 2012" (PDF). Metrolink. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ↑ Hattem, Matt Van (June 30, 2006). "Metrolink, The commuter railroad serving Los Angeles". Trains Magazine. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
- ↑ "Train Schedules | Metrolink". Metrolinktrains.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ "Metrolink train hits a vehicle in Oxnard". vcstar.com. The E.W. Scripps Co. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
- ↑ "Alerts, Service Advisories and Planned Advisories | Metrolink". Metrolinktrains.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ "Abandoned truck's driver arrested after commuter train crash". Msn.com. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ Lah, Kyung (2015-02-25). "Train technology prevented tragedy in California". CNN.com. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ "Truck driver who caused California derailment arrested on suspicion of felony hit-and-run". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ "Truck driver arrested after train crash". Usatoday.com. 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2016-01-08.
- ↑ Nelson, Laura J. (March 1, 2015). "Amtrak train strikes car in Camarillo; no serious injuries reported". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 2, 2015.
External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ventura County Line. |
- Belmond, Sylvie (March 10, 2006). "Commuters praise trains, grade crossings improved". Simi Valley Acorn. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
- Metrolink Schedules
- Ventura County Line Route Map — on OpenStreetMap
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