Metrolink

Early organizing

Inter-city rail service around Los Angeles persisted through the formation of Amtrak in 1971, but rail operations suitable for commuters remained elusive throughout the 1980s. On October 18, 1982, CalTrain, LA's first commuter rail service, began on the existing Ventura County Line, but only lasted a few months before termination, on March 1, 1983.

The Orange County Transportation Commission initiated the Amtrak-operated Orange County Commuter in early 1990, running between Los Angeles and San Juan Capistrano, but a more comprehensive approach was deemed necessary. Senate Bill 1402 was signed into law on May 25, 1990, which directed local transportation authorities to establish a regional plan for commuter rail by the year's end.

In October 1990, the member agencies of the SCRRA had announced the purchase of 175 miles (282 km) of track, maintenance yards, and stations and other property from Southern Pacific for $450 million in 1990. The rights to use Los Angeles Union Station were purchased from Union Pacific, the station's owner at the time, for $17 million in the same year (Union Station has since been purchased by Los Angeles Metro). Freight operations would continue on some corridors under coordination with passenger services. The joint powers authority was formally founded in 1991.

Initial service and expansion

Services commenced on October 26, 1992, under contracted operation by Amtrak with the Ventura, Santa Clarita (now the Antelope Valley), and San Bernardino Lines. In 1993, service was expanded to include the Riverside Line and the following year the Orange County Line was conveyed from Amtrak branding to Metrolink. The 1994 Northridge Earthquake saw the closure of Interstate 5 and other regional freeways, bringing widespread attention on Metrolink alternatives. Metrolink experimented with expanded service to Camarillo and Oxnard, and it extended the Antelope Valley line ten years ahead of schedule, rapidly adding six stations in six weeks. The Inland Empire-Orange County Line opened in 1995, and more trains on the Orange County service were funded. The 91 Line (now the 91/Perris Valley Line) opened in 2002.

From July 2004, Metrolink fares were changed from zone based to one based on distance. In 2005, a five-year operational contract was awarded to Connex Railroad/Veolia Transport. That same year, the Orange County Transportation Authority approved a plan to increase frequencies to 76 trains daily on the Orange County and Inland Empire-Orange County Lines by 2009, and funding for increased Metrolink service was included in the renewal of the Measure M sales tax for transportation approved by voters in November 2006. A proposed station in Yorba Linda was canceled after the city rejected it due to local opposition on March 16, 2004.

In July 2008, it was announced that ridership had risen 16% over the previous year. Following the 2008 Chatsworth train collision in which 25 people died and 135 were injured a number of safety measures were taken; in the fall of 2009, inward-facing video cameras were installed in locomotives in order to ensure that staff were complying with regulations, in particular a ban on use of mobile phones. In 2010, the first of 117 energy absorbing passenger carriages (which lessen the toll on passengers in the case of an accident) were received by the operator. Amtrak regained the contract to operate Metrolink beginning in July 2010. Average weekday ridership for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 38,400.

In 2010, to save money in the face of funding cuts, the Metrolink board voted to reduce mid-day service on the Inland Empire–Orange County Line, as well as weekend service on the Orange County, Riverside, and Inland Empire–Orange County lines.

Average weekday ridership was 41,000 during May 2011. A survey found that 90% of users during a typical weekday in 2009 would have previously driven alone or carpooled and that the system replaced an estimated 25,000 vehicle trips. During a weekend closure of Interstate 405 in July 2011, the system recorded its highest-ever weekend ridership of 20,000 boardings which was 50% higher than the same weekend in 2010 and 10% higher than the previous weekend ridership record which occurred during U2 360° Tour in June 2011. Ridership continued to rise in 2012 (up 2%), when average weekday ridership reached 42,265. Although 2013 annual boardings were almost 12.07 million, ridership dropped to 11.74 million by fall 2014 which was contrary to projections. Blaming the decrease on the worst recession since World War II, Metrolink said it found itself caught between cutting service and boosting fares, both of which would likely further decrease ridership.

Service between the cities Ventura and Santa Clarita

The Santa Paula Branch Line was acquired by the Ventura County Transportation Commission in 1995. The railway, a former portion of the Southern Pacific Coast Line, connects the city of Ventura to Santa Clarita paralleling California State Route 126. Sierra Northern Railway operates the services on the line. Plans exist to rehabilitate tracks for Metrolink service. A study from 1991 estimated a cost between $70 million to $90 million to rebuild the line.

Service to Santa Barbara County

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) had announced plans for Metrolink service to/from Los Angeles Union Station to begin in Winter, 2026, starting with one daily trip in each direction, however the plans were scrapped in favor of an additional Pacific Surfliner train.

Orange County maintenance facility

As of December 1, 2022, the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) has laid a third track south of the Interstate 5 overpass in Irvine leading into the future site of the Orange County maintenance facility. The facility will serve as an additional site to service Metrolink and Amtrak trains on a parcel of land owned by the Orange County Transportation Authority just north of Irvine station. The project will receive funding from California's SCORE Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program. The project also includes an extension to Ridge Valley, a road north of the parcel where the project will occur.

Pomona-North to Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink Shuttle Service

SBCTA is planning to increase frequency from Pomona North to the Rancho Cucamonga Metrolink station to 15 minute frequency using ZEMU. it is expected to cost 150 million.

Notable incidents

From 1993 to 2008, 218 people were killed in Metrolink train incidents, the majority of these being pedestrians killed on the tracks, while 39 were due to three train collisions.

Glendale, 1994

There is a narrow residential strip of the city of Glendale which is isolated from the rest of the city by the presence of high-speed rail lines. Access is limited to grade crossings spaced at very long intervals. The sections of track between the grade crossings were not fenced for many years, and dozens of pedestrians and vehicles were struck. Two of the accidents resulted in a total of seven deaths in one month:

On August 15, 1994, three pedestrians died when they were attempting to cross the tracks along a section of Metrolink track adjacent to San Fernando Blvd in Glendale in the middle of a mile-long stretch of track that had no pedestrian crossings and no fences to discourage pedestrian access. Later that August, four persons in an automobile died when they were attempting to cross at a grade crossing of the Metrolink track adjacent to San Fernando Blvd.

Placentia, 2002

Two people died and 22 were seriously injured on April 23, 2002, when a BNSF freight train collided head-on with a Metrolink train in Placentia, near the Atwood Junction, at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Richfield Road. Both trains were on the same east–west track moving toward one another. The Metrolink had the right-of-way; it was supposed to switch to a southbound track. The BNSF train was supposed to slow and stop just before the switch while the Metrolink passed, but the crew missed a signal 1.5 miles (2.4 km) back warning them to slow down. By the time the crew saw the red "stop" signal at the switch and the Metrolink train, they were going too fast to avoid a collision. Although there was speculation that the signals alerting the BNSF to slow and stop had malfunctioned, an investigation later concluded that it was human error by the crew that caused the accident.

Glendale, 2005

Eleven people were killed (including an off-duty sheriff's deputy and a train conductor) and over 100 people were injured, about 40 seriously on January 26, 2005, when a Metrolink passenger train collided with a vehicle parked on the tracks, which then jackknifed and struck a stationary freight locomotive and a Metrolink train moving in the opposite direction. The man who parked the vehicle on the tracks, Juan Manuel Alvarez, was apprehended and charged with 11 counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including murder by train wrecking. On June 26, 2008, Alvarez was convicted on the 11 murder counts and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Chatsworth, 2008

Twenty-five people were killed and 135 injured when a Metrolink commuter train carrying 222 persons collided head on with a Union Pacific freight train, toppling one of the passenger cars and the locomotive onto its side in the Chatsworth district of Los Angeles. Of the 135 people who were injured, 81 were transported to local hospitals in serious or critical condition. The velocity of the trains caused the Metrolink locomotive to telescope into the first passenger car.