The new train station in Santa Clarita has opened.
More photos here:
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love to see it
What a mess!
Thankfully the freeway is in the process of being rebuilt and will reopen on Tuesday next week.
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This will be a very unique opportunity to see some rare trackage for railfans (a.k.a. âfoamersâ).
Los Angeles Union Station will temporarily close for track and signal upgrades from Dec. 26 through Dec. 29, 2023 . During this time, for the first time ever, the Pacific Surfliner will bypass Union Station to journey along the east bank of the Los Angeles River and through part of the Alameda Corridor. This will be a historic week for the service, providing passengers with a one-of-a-kind travel experience along a never-before traveled route.
Monorails need a lot of maintenance to look nice.
Itâs a shame they arenât considering elevated heavy rail. Sure, old (steel) elevated lines are noisy, but new (concrete) ones can be built (with sound barriers and baffles) that are almost as quiet as a monorail. There are also rubber-tired trains like they have in Paris and Montreal that are relatively quiet⌠(or at least they sound different in a way thatâs far less irritating.)
One of the alternatives (alt 4) includes elevated heavy rail in the Valley along Sepulveda Blvd, but itâs a huge point of contention. Some Valley residents are making an equity argument that itâs unfair for them to have to deal with an El above a major boulevard when residents of the basin wonât have to. But as a counterpoint: the segment between UCLA and the E Line basically has to be underground because it cuts across the a congested street grid, and the southern segment between the E Line and LAX has only gotten a preliminary exploration. The southern segment certainly could include an El, especially if an alignment along Sepulveda is chosen, itâs just not that far along.
Unfortunately, NIMBY homeowners in Bel Air and Sherman Oaks have co-opted the equity argument to bolster their anti-subway tunnel agenda. Assholes like Fred Rosen have made it a personal campaign to stop Metro from tunneling under their neighborhood in the hills.
I could spend all afternoon laying out why the monorail is a terrible option and how insane the NIMBY opposition has gotten, but Nick Andert has done an incredible job of summarizing the saga on his YouTube page. The latest drama is all covered within his 2023 LA project update here.
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In the Sacramento area (Folsom), the outer part of the Gold Line light rail is being partially double-tracked, allowing for 15-minute service on this stretch of rail. Currently, due to a single track, trams in Folsom only run every 30 minutes.
https://www.sacrt.com/apps/lr-modernization-3/
Construction begins Jan 2 2024 and is expected to be complete in summer 2024.
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More frequent service on the Metro rail lines begins this weekend.
In Del Mar, California, Amtrak trains run along eroding bluffs. There are proposals to reroute trains via tunnels.
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Some extremely disheartening news on the long-delayed project to create through-tracks at Los Angeles Union Station. It has been scaled down already.
After value engineering, plans how call for a reduction in the number of new-build platforms which would have access to the run-through tracks from seven to four. Those platforms would serve eight different tracks which would converge onto just two tracks crossing the freeway - also a reduction from the original plan which had called for at least four.
So just two tracks crossing the 101 south of Union Station!
This redundancy deficit is going to lead to the same type of nonsense that New Jersey commuters deal with due to the fact that only two tracks run under the Hudson to Penn Station.
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At least weâre finally starting to build a second set of tunnel tracks to Penn.
How incredibly stupid. How is it that agencies arenât able to learn this lesson? Theyâre just gonna have to upgrade it again later, at even higher cost on a longer timetable
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Progress on Wilshire Boulevard subway extension in Los Angeles
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Progress of extension of Metro âAâ train in Glendora, California
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Update on âOC Streetcarâ which will run through Santa Ana and Garden Grove in Orange County.
It was supposed to open in 2021. It might open next year, but probably not.
Passing through car-addicted suburbia, this line will likely not get more than 300 passengers on a busy day.
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Such a waste of this old interurban ROW. Itâs a shame LA Metro and OCTA couldnât figure out a way to resurrect the whole West Santa Ana branch as a single project servicing DTLA, the Gateway Cities and central Orange County.
Mode and service patterns might pose complicated questions, of course. Iâve long thought SoCal would benefit from an RER- or Overground-style system that functions like a commuter railway out in the suburbs and transitions to higher stop-density as it gets into the various urban cores.
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