As pump prices soar, passengers rush to Amtrak's Surfliner: $400 million available to improve rail service

San Diego Business Journal, June 9, 2008 by Liz Wiedemann

With U.S. public transit ridership at a 50-year high, the state Transportation Commission met May 29 to discuss ways to relieve train congestion, but don't expect changes to come quickly.

A dramatic increase in ridership on the Pacific Surfliner, the 350-mile Amtrak train that runs from San Diego to San Luis Obispo, has set passenger records during the last 10 months, says Bill Bronte, chief of the transportation department's rail division.

According to a report delivered to the state board on California's three state-subsidized Amtrak passenger rail lines, the Surfliner's passenger count climbed 9.5 percent in March from January, to 656,439 riders compared to 599,412 with the same period last year.

Regional gas prices, said the AAA, have increased 15 percent in the past year.

"We share riders with the Coaster and Metrolink, and both have seen lots of growth, but a more standard annual growth rate for the Surfliner would be around 5 percent," Bronte said.

Crowded trains mean crowded parking lots at stations, a result of the rail-to-rail program, Bronte says.

"Parking is an issue, but all of the shared corridors are on board for finding solutions, such as shuttles to off-site parking," Bronte said.

The federal Highway Administration reported that March vehicle miles traveled on the nation's highways fell 4.3 percent from a year earlier, the sharpest yearly drop ever.

Need For Rail Cars

Growing popularity of trains is driving the need for more rail cars, a need that comes under the realm of Proposition 1B.

The $20 billion state transportation bond measure voters approved in 2006 set aside $400 million for intercity rail improvements.

Bronte says this year's state budget would likely allow Caltrans to designate when and where to add new trains.

While new rolling stock under Proposition 1B would take as many as four years to be delivered, Bronte says repairs to four rail cars will be completed within six months.

At the CTC's San Diego meeting last month, San Diego city officials and Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian proposed an express train route to run between San Diego and Los Angeles to alleviate overcrowding on the Surfliner, which now carries as many as 100 standees on weekends.

"Right now people are just hopping on whatever train happens to be there, so the new proposal would reduce traffic on the Surfliner, eventually," Bronte said.

The service would designate certain Metrolink trains for express routes, leaving every half-hour.