SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — Efforts to extend Metrolink commuter rail service into Santa Barbara County are gaining ground, the online news site Noozhawk reports.
A committee of the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments is set to discuss a one-year pilot program to extend service from Ventura County to Santa Barbara and Goleta, Calif., today (May 8) at 1:30 p.m.
The current proposal calls for a morning round trip from Moorpark, with evening return trips using existing Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service. The pilot program would cost an estimated $4.4 million, with funding covered by the Santa Barbara County Association of Governments, the Ventura County Transportation Commission, and farebox returns. Service would require an agreement between the two counties, Metrolink, and the LOSSAN Rail Corridor Agency, operator of the Surfliners.
The meeting will be livestreamed (but not recorded). Noozhawk reports it will be available on Zoom using the password 188991.
$4.4 million? That’s not enough to buy another trainset so it must be mostly pork.