Metrolink Train Service from Ventura County to Santa Barbara and Goleta Delayed to 2026
SANTA BARBARA AND VENTURA COUNTIES, Calif. — The plan to offer a morning Metrolink train northbound and an afternoon return trip southbound on the Amtrak Pacific Surfliner has been years in the making.
“The voters voted for this in 2008 and passed measure A, in part because they wanted to see the train in addition to the lane. It's one thing to have a H-O-V carpool lane. That is great. We're looking forward to that. But we also want options for people who maybe don't want to drive or who would rather sit back and cruise past the traffic while they're on the train,” said SBCAG Multimodal Programs Director Aaron Bonfilio.
The new offering was originally scheduled to launch in October, but now officials are targeting January at the earliest.
The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments says Metrolink will now be a subcontractor of LOSSAN, which is the LA-San Diego-San Luis Obispo-Rail Corridor.
The months-long delay is due to ongoing negotiations over insurance.
“There's a lot of different groups involved and Union Pacific has to go through their due diligence,” said Bonfilio.
Union Pacific owns the train tracks and the right of way between Moorpark station and as far north as the Bay Area.
Union Pacific still needs to review LOSSAN’s proposal, which comes amid a possible merger with Norfolk Southern.
“When we reached out to them this summer with our plans, they said, ‘That's great. We are in the middle of a multi billion dollar merger, and we'd be happy to help you, and we're going to review that application, but it's going to take us some time,’” said Bonfilio.
The train sets will have upwards of 500 seats available.
SBCAG is confident this new route will mean less traffic congestion on both sides of Hwy 101.
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