LOS ANGELES — Metrolink will adjust schedules on its San Bernardino Line as of Jan. 27 in an effort to address on-time issues that led the agency to offer discounts to monthly pass holders in January and February.
The commuter agency’s CEO, Darren Kettle, said in a year-end message to riders that Metrolink’s efforts to add more service on its most popular line had shown that “we simply do not have enough track capacity to operate the level of service that we aspired to” [see “LA’s Metrolink offering discount on monthly passes …,” Trains News Wire, Jan. 3, 2025].
In an announcement of the schedule changes on Tuesday, Jan. 14, Kettle said that in response to those issues “and feedback we’ve received from customers, we’re making some much-needed changes to our schedule to improve operations and ensure we provide the high-quality service our passengers expect and deserve.” \
The changes announced Tuesday include:
— Discontinuing 10 round trips to Covina in Los Angeles County, to be replaced by five round trips between LA Union Station and Montclair, three stations further east in San Bernardino County. This will allow for more connections to San Bernardino County transit agencies.
— Maintaining the current 17 round trips between San Bernardino and Los Angeles, along with one round trip between LA Union Station and the Redlands-Downtown station.
— Replacing two limited-stop express trains between Redlands and Los Angeles with all-stop trains to serve riders in more communities.
— Reinstating a late-evening train from Los Angeles to San Bernardino that had been discontinued in October.
— Realignment of schedules on the San Bernardino-Redlands Arrow service to align with the other changes.
Four Ventura County Line trains will also see minor schedule adjustments.
The revised schedules are available here.
From the article:
“[…] Kettle said that in response to those issues ‘and feedback we’ve received from customers, we’re making some much-needed changes to our schedule to improve operations and ensure we provide the high-quality service our passengers expect and deserve.'”
So the firs thing they do is discontinue a bunch of trips (discontinuing 10, but then restoring 5 that have a farther-out terminus — still a net reduction).
I know that doublespeak is the lingua franca of the 21st Century, especially with the Marketing class. But really…I’m gonna have to replace my current BS-detector with a military-grade one; this one is just getting flat worn out (and will even have to endure more wear and tear come Monday…).
If the present schedule did not work best change it. Does anyone have an idea of what or where these problems occurred? Will necessary mitigations in the future allow a return to the enhanced schedule?