How Would I Improve Metrolink?

Metrolink is Southern California's regional rail system that was established in 1992 to replace aging car related infrastructure that was crippling the economic vitality of the state along with dampening the human spirit with endless concrete highways leading to lung pollution even after leaded gasoline was banned. Armed with a fleet of 12 EMD F40-PH locomotives and a handful of gallery cars, the new Metralink set out to be the standard for rail travel worldwide. Three decades later, the story continues and the future is looking great!
Partal list of sources:
google maps
google earth
google street view
open railway map
rail.guide
wikimedia commons
pixabay
The personal collection of DJ Petesake railfan footage
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[@roachtoasties]

You forgot about digging a hole through the center of the earth, so Metrolink riders can reach South Africa without wasting time traveling the long way.

[@djpetesake]

That would be too easy

[@snoopyloopy]

Half troll, but some kernels in there for sure.

[@mobility_criteria]

we need to make you metrolink ceo

[@mirzaahmed6589]

You mean SCRRA CEO?

[@DieYuppiieSkum]

Nah, he's too inexperienced and unethical on his plans.

[@peterjonston5905]

@@DieYuppiieSkum very inexperienced

[@scottydude456]

Loved how unhinged this got

[@zakiack]

REALIGN THE OCEAN

[@stencil_ized]

Nandert has been oddly silent since this video dropped…

[@jeremymurphy3555]

There’s too much troll in this I can’t tell what’s actually useful😭

[@TomDooner]

Bro did some serious editing work for this april fools video

[@douggoud]

I know most of this was a joke, but once you mentioned extending to Menifee, Murrieta and Temecula, and putting a station in Yorba Linda/Anaheim Hills, I'm in board!

[@emvvehicles_8]

4:06 and there’s the April fools gag 🤣

[@djpetesake]

You're right! it's actually called "personal watercraft"

[@CancelYoutube026]

All of these projects will definitely finish after 2049, the year in which the Blade Runner movie is set.

[@devanwheeler3426]

As a socal I would vote for you

[@wtfareperfectplaces]

Oh my God the slow transition to insanity was fantastic. Instant subscribe

[@icecat2533]

Finally someone who understands the region!

[@owenreese2216]

I know this is a metrolink video but extend the Metro A line to Phoenix

[@stanengle9412]

Disappointed in the lack of the City of Industry Explosion graphics.

[@djpetesake]

Those are only in my joke videos

[@stickynorth]

Happy AFD from Alberta! Great video. Hopefully we'll get an earnest version of this soon too! Personally Metrolink should go with Battery Electric Multiple Units and try and double track all of the routes. It would be nice to see overhead power with tons of voltage but the cost of that is pretty unlikely. Using fast-charing BEMU's on the other hand? Already a thing on the Great Western Railway in London using old rolling stock adapted for new use. And it only takes 4 minutes to re-charge during station stops and has a range of like 73 miles which covers almost all of these routes to the end... Personally I want to see the Antelope Valley line extended to both California City and Tehachapi since the planning study was already positive about this prospect before... Plus with the cost of housing being the lowest in Southern California it seems natural to want to both grow the city as a commuter railroad suburb and as a regional hub that it was always meant to be... Especially when the city currently has 42,000 vacant but serviced lots now by last count...

[@djpetesake]

I would much sooner recommend synthesizing diesel by the Fischer-Tropsch process than a battery electric fleet- at least until battery technology gets better. AV line to California City/ Tehachapi would be legit!

[@himbourbanist]

Let's get those Big Bad Bombardier Bilevel Bois up Mt San Jac

[@JulianGrayMedia]

this is so good.

[@BrandtAbsolu]

This video really went off the rails

[@repulser93]

This was hilarious!

[@CatBot007]

You didnt address that the Cal State La platform can only fit the west most 3 cars, shouldn't that also be extended to futureproof for 50 car consists?

[@djpetesake]

Nobody seems to be upset by the 10-tracked 405 line reducing to singletrack through Costa Mesa

[@djpetesake]

But also, just extend the platform to LA General Medical Center

[@aidincallas63]

It took me way too long to realize what this actually was

[@miles51699]

This is what nandert sounds like to NIMBYs

[@TheHungryTransitFan]

Can't wait for the Disney-LAX Express

[@daniellee1324]

For someone that lives in the IE this was an amazing informative video! Thank you Mr Petesake ❤️

[@AutonomyCentral]

You had me rolling at extending the Disneyland monorail to LAX 😂

[@yorktown99]

There's some more low-hanging fruit that we can take advantage of. The old Santa Paula Branch Line can be reopened, connecting Ventura with Santa Clarita and allowing for the development of an entire valley around rail-based transportation, instead of freeways; plus, it would give an alternate routing if Santa Susana Tunnel is blocked. The Antelope Valley Line can extend north a ways to Mojave, making the connection up to Mammoth a simple matter. You mentioned the opportunities for connecting to Calexico via Bombay Beach: let's reopen the Tecate line between Tijuana and Mexicali (further improving rail access to the southern end of the Pacific Crest Trail in Campo).

[@davidperry605]

Extend a line to the new Westminster Mall. This would get Los Angeles Access to the beach cities.

[@torunit4620]

By the time I got to the end of this I realized you might not be serious. We still need the 15 minute frequencies. 24/7

[@jamallhayden2512]

Thank You!

[@TheStudioMixes]

Bombay Beach station is insane 💀

[@torunit4620]

The loop back to CSUCI would be a waste. There already is a (largely unoccupied) bus from Camarillo station to CSUCI that, even with the transfer wait time, is much faster and shorter to CSUCI. And there are no people and no tracks across that farm land between Oxnard College and CSUCI, where another unused bus already exists.

[@ozgonzalez2012]

Oh, just imagine that the new Desert Line may be belong to BNSF Freight trains from Tucson, AZ to Barstow, CA. Called BNSF M-TUCBAR in the future of the circumstances.

[@ernien]

We’ll all nominate you to be on the board of Brightline West so we can get to LV from anywhere in the LA Co and OC for free! Let the casinos pay for our fares. ❤

[@gbalph4]

Hell yeah as an OCC student I would take Metrolink to LA if it stopped at our place.

[@dverespey]

Was wondering why this recommended to me until I saw the Proterra mention. Unfortunately the factory was closed last year. Plus following that Proterra went through bankruptcy and the bus division was sold to Phoenix Motor .

[@thestone30080]

Pretty much I wonder why Foothill Transit bought electric buses from that company and 70% of their electric buses were out of service due to mechanical and battery problems.

[@bbartky]

As someone who lived in the east San Gabriel Valley and attended Mt. Sac (our name for Mount San Antonio College) and then Cal State Fullerton your Orange County San Gabriel Valley line would have been perfect for me. 👍

[@collin1000]

2:50 one of your dreams is semi-coming true. Metro is adding a bus link between the two stations with a re-route of line 268 starting in late June 2024.

[@SWExplore]

Thanks for this great video, DJ. I live in Los Angeles and I get it. It's the fucking helicopters and the fucking leaf blowers that are eternally buzzing over and around us. Excuse my French...

[@djpetesake]

YES!!! My friend Scott and I made a song about the leaf blowers: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4fIi39-jK2Wi7c

[@ttopero]

I know this is partly parody, however people will take what you say to heart that don’t know. The Arrow is a heavy rail (not light rail) that is simply a Multiple Unit diesel (or soon to include H2-it’s so quiet you won’t even know it’s coming) that has similar challenges getting up grade. The Stadler FLIRT can include an OCS Electric MU type, but that’s not likely with the NIMBY set.

[@qjtvaddict]

Maglev it is then as a dedicated express train

[@djpetesake]

You're right, I totally missed an opportunity to refer to the "Escondido Sprinter" as a light rail too

[@bakedpatato]

Proterra just made batteries there before it went bankrupt, all Bus assembly by the time Proterra was going bankrupt happened in South Carolina and while I'm down to make the world most transit oriented water park the Pomona north station isn't a slouch either given how close it is to the job center of the area love the shit posts, keep em coming!!

[@dverespey]

Incorrect, it was a bus factory first. The battery line was added later. Sadly the site was closed a year back.

[@bakedpatato]

@@dverespey Yeah good point, i meant by the time Proterra was closing shop they only made batteries there; I've had coworkers go to that factory a while back when they used to do final assembly there

[@alirE2904]

We need a trolley or something from metro link to john wayne airport. There is a little bus from metrolink to kaiser in irvine. It waits for passengers at the metrolink station in irvine

[@TheMajortanner]

I like your Cal Poly Pomona idea. Sound like you really mean that one.

[@sameeruddowlakhan]

incredible

[@anitrain]

OMG that was great but we really do need a 405 line though. I've been saying that for years...

[@aaawwwmandude]

Jokes aside, a 405 rail line would work for me 😂

[@dennisthebrony2022]

8:51 They should revive the San Diegan as a new Amtrak Corridor Route from San Diego to Las Vegas Nevada, using this original abandoned route between Oceanside and Hemet, then continue on the 91 Line Until Riverside, then pass through San Bernardino Depot, and then pass through the same route of the Southwest Chief from San Bernardino to Barstow, and then travel the Same Route as the Desert Wind did since 1997 all the way to Las Vegas where the train terminates. It will use the Bilevel California Cars or Siemens Venture or Airo Trains.

[@oskehcat]

I think you forgot about extending the other end of the Disneyland monorail to Las Vegas.

[@torunit4620]

We need to add 15 minute frequencies to every route. 24/7 That just about says it.

[@lohphat]

The old PE RoW needs to come back down the middle of OC via Stanton. As of the early 80s the rails were still there at grade crossings when I got my license but are long gone now.

[@cjs83172]

You brought up a possible line along the median of I-405. While I'm not certain that's feasible, the fact remains that one of the two biggest missing links in rail travel in Southern California is a line connecting Irvine to Santa Monica via coastal cities of Orange and southwestern Los Angeles counties, and which would hit both John Wayne Airport and LAX, with John Wayne Airport also serving as the stop for Costa Mesa. That line would likely have a stop for Huntington Beach/Westminster, as well as at least one, perhaps as many as three stops in Long Beach, of which one would connect to the LA Metro A Line. You also touched on a possible extension of the Riverside County line down to Temecula, which actually is part of the other major missing link in Southern California rail service, which is a line from San Diego to Riverside via Escondido and the Inland Empire up the I-15 and I-215 corridors. In fact, there currently is no transit service at all connecting northern San Diego County to Riverside County on the I-15 corridor. Should there ever be a rail line connecting San Diego, Escondido, and Riverside via the I-15 and I-215 corridors (and I think Lake Elsinore should be part of that, in some way), then you could wind up with both Riverside and Escondido as major transit hubs in Southern California, to go along with San Diego, Oceanside, and Union Station in Los Angeles. the line connecting Los Angeles and Riverside could end there, with another line connecting Riverside to Escondido, and then some kind of light, hybrid, or commuter rail connection between Escondido and San Diego.

[@jpg3702]

Definitely agree on a line covering the coastal cities all the way up to San Fernando Valley

[@cjs83172]

@@jpg3702 Not just that, but also to bring rail access to the airports for those that wish to use it. Now it must be mentioned that LA Metro is beginning to do some of that with it's K Line, which is intended to cover the northern end of the area I mentioned (among the things they intend is that line going as far south as Redondo Beach and Torrance, and includes a connection to the E Line in Santa Monica in their future plans). Frankly, that's something that should have been done many years ago, although, as mentioned in this video regarding San Clemente, as well as with the bluffs in Del Mar, they can't go too close to the coast itself, because of the risks of the cliffs collapsing.

[@blu0065]

Hi, I can probably answer a few questions about the Ventura County line. (But my info is outdated because I took it back in 2019...) In general, the trains only go to Moorpark. Simi Valley is an Amtrak stop, so riders can connect with the pacific surfliner there. I'm not sure why riders would connect with the pacific surfliner with the Ventura County Line though because the surfliner usually goes to L.A. Union Station anyway. All the Pacific Surfliner maintenance infrastructure is at L.A. Union station. The cold foods in the cafe car were out, and they swapped trains at Union Station for a working cafe car.

[@blu0065]

also, sometimes the best ideas come as shitposts. The scary part is when the shitposts are this good and this correct.

[@ivanlerma-huerta7966]

as a resident of santa barbara, i would like to argue for metrolink to run up here as well given amtrak’s less than stellar record 😪

[@twizshiz]

First, I agree with most of what you said. Second, only a transit fan would see how funny this video is. I laughed so hard. Lol. Loved your video

[@twizshiz]

Subscribed.

[@qjtvaddict]

SCORE in the works

[@BarclayRoadFilms]

While mostly jokes, there are some really good points - Cal Polly Pomona station, for example.

[@localblackman427]

1st thing I would do is make it extremely cheaper to increase passenger count. Extend from ventura to Santa Barbara air port

[@localblackman427]

Yes I know it's a joke but some of us do actually have to use this thing lol

[@asherpate8]

I hope it will be that way too, and electrification at all it's rails you think should have (idk if it would be exact all of the rails). And I wish the San Bernardino line fixes you mention, electrification (my idea), and rail connection to Brightline West would be in that line, and I hope these fixes can happen sooner than the rest of the lines. Do you think the San Bernardino line's speed limit would be introduced if the stuff you mentioned to fix it are there, and electrification? Sorry if I'm disturbing the Brightline West project

[@United1158]

You’re missing the point for the OC line. It would obviously be cheaper to get rid of the tracks altogether, turn it into a bike trail, and extend the Disneyland Monorail to Oceanside.

[@jackmerrill8424]

Cannot be overstated how bad having one track is on the San Bernardino line between the I10. That is such fucking crap.

[@ttopero]

I can see some real value in building a dual track section like CAHSR (raised track on pylons) in the ocean parallel with the existing line in San Clemente. It’d be cheaper than tunneling, built to withstand seismic and unstable earth, and ultimately have less environmental impact than tunneling under the city.

[@LakyshiaTex-Ann]

@01:35 I think after Camarillo>The Uni>Ox Coll>DT Oxnard> & continue on the blackened portion. Admittedly I live in TX so I don't know diddly squat so probably a hill of beans hahaha acting like the sun comes up just to listen at me crow😂😂

[@OrangeCountyRails]

Tip: Add a station in Brea (My friend is gonna need it)

[@djpetesake]

I actually realized I forgot to put one there after the video was done!

[@alexhaowenwong6122]

You forgot to mention the Antelope Valley Line goes through the snow during the winter!

[@United1158]

Instead of doing multiple trains a day just do one 100 car long Metrolink train a day for each line pulled by newly purchased BNSF GEVO locomotives

[@CatBot007]

2:13 oh god imagine how long that would take, the 10 freeway refurbishment in Ontario and Pomona is already taking long enough...

[@AdamFaruqi]

good

[@Gryphonisle]

It’s a common problem with US transit: It’s run for bean counters not riders. Too often trains and buses have headways so long they discourage ridership. Its time to make people with cars pay the full cost of the infrastructure they use and build and operated much more frequent service

[@rishithakur7186]

Things in parallel universe…

[@alhollywood6486]

See that empty white space in the South Bay? Yeah, lots of fun here.😢

[@DesertDwight]

Metrolink has good bones, but without owning right of way can they do much? If they electrified and ran 24/7 it’d be quite useful

[@user-uj5ly1eq5n]

Idk why but I think electrified trains are ugly

[@goldenstatedepartures]

Also RIP Cinema City

[@user-uj5ly1eq5n]

Should Metrolink be extended to Santa Barbara?

[@tz7245]

If only there was a single metrolink train going to the west side

[@dave5071]

tunnel through the Santa Ana mountains

[@cosmickitty3009]

I recognize a lot of this is joking, but a lot of these ideas aren't awful. Here are my thoughts, just briefly as I can (I also apologize for the length of this response.) What are our thoughts on possibly expanding the Antelope Valley line to Rosamond and then Mojave? While technically you could take the Eastern Sierra bus route from Lancaster to Mojave, or even the Kern Transit bus to Mojave or Rosamond, it could be nice to give people more access to Metrolink from the Kern Transit system. Especially since Mojave almost acts as a hub, pulling in from Boron (who I hope will eventually get a connection to the Victor Valley network) and Cal City. I would argue to go directly to Victorville/Hesperia since they are bigger, but Brightline and CAHSR want to develop this corridor/connection already. For the Ventura line, while I recognize you're probably joking, I want to say- I do not understand why this line doesn't service this area like a big loop. Imagine this, it goes through like this; Camarillo - CSU Channel Islands - Port Hueneme - Oxnard - Ventura and then it can re-open/follow the Ventura-Santa Clarita line going through to Saticoy - Santa Paula - Fillmore - Piru/Buckhorn - Santa Clarita and more or less follow the Antelope Valley line back to Burbank where it connects back. Even stopping at Santa Clarita isn't awful but if you connect back in Burbank, people can go from Burbank to say Santa Paula, on one line, more directly. Expanding the network in the I.E. and creating connections to a future Coachella Valley and Imperial Valley rail line?! Absolutely. Imagine expanding the San Bernardino line from terminating in Redlands to go further south and terminating in Beaumont instead with a station servicing Yucaipa/Calimesa. Expanding the Riverside line to terminate in Beaumont as well with a stop servicing Moreno Valley. I'd like for a train to somehow connect from Hemet/San Jacinto/Valle Vista, but I'm not sure how. In addition to making a Calexico to at least Beaumont line as talked about, stopping in the cities that make the most sense in this path; Calexico - Heber - El Centro - Imperial - Brawley - Calipatria - Niland - Bombay - North Shore - Mecca - Thermal - Coachella - Indio - (south)Bermuda Dunes - Indian Wells - Palm Desert - Rancho Mirage - Cathedral City - Palm Springs - Banning - Beaumont. That would be so awesome.

[@hello-ji7qj]

I like your video, but I am too much of a homebody to get the jokes.

[@djpetesake]

Just start binge watching @nandert @LucidStew @climateandtransit @todgod @nimeshinlosangeles @alanthefisher & you'll be up to speed in no time!

[@finned958]

Metrolink is so useless with lack of frequency of the trains, lack of stations, and no direct connection to Metro and other local bus services. Metrolink rails should be available to other lines like Metro to allow for continuous journeys. Build some bypass rails. All trains should be electrified.

[@goldenstatedepartures]

Ah but the one station within Ventura that Metrolink serves, Amtrak does not. Who doesn't like getting on/off the train after going through a wye in an industrial park?

[@Geotpf]

Ventura Metrolink station was an afterthought. Originally, it was just a train yard where they stored the trains overnight. Then they decided it basically cost zero dollars to let people get on there too. So they did.

[@goldenstatedepartures]

@@Geotpf today I learned from the comments section of an April Fools vid!

[@Mike1064ab]

Make public transit free and get rid of all the stupid gates and fare boxes.

[@maho_nishizumi_tigertank]

But how will we fund the system then just the million Metrolink lemonade stands

[@hugo5086]

Quintuple the 405

[@jackmerrill8424]

No more median trains please please please please just take out the highway

[@qjtvaddict]

Just add a new station

[@MichaelAckerman]

Comedy transit vids, eh? 😂

[@cheemterastrial9399]

Just play cities skylines and its all possible

[@18usctrojan]

April Fools lol

[@TheRicsilver48]

This is terrible! Did he bother to do any research? The ignorance is shocking.