The following is a news release from Metrolink for a key project on the Ventura County Line that will allow more frequent trains and enhance safety.

The Ventura County Line offers commuter rail service between Union Station and the city of Ventura. LA Metro riders can connect to Metrolink’s Ventura County trains at stations at Union Station, Glendale, Burbank, Burbank Airport, Van Nuys, Northridge and Chatsworth. Here are Metrolink train schedules. To plan a trip on LA Metro to or from a Metrolink station, we recommend using the Transit app (in the Apple Store or Google Play for Android devices), the trip planner on metro.net or Google Maps.

Quick background: one of the long-time challenges for commuter rail is that amount of single track, meaning trains have to pull over to allow trains heading in the other direction to pass. Adding more double track sections — as this project will — makes it easier to more trains.

The news release from Metrolink:

LOS ANGELES – On July 23rd, the Metrolink Board of Directors certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for its Simi Valley Double Track Project, which is designed to increase train capacity on Metrolink’s Ventura County Line and the existing Simi Valley Station. The FEIR can be read here.

Preparation of the FEIR complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). A Draft EIR was distributed to interested agencies, stakeholder organizations and individuals for review and comment for a 45-day public review and comment period that began on March 18, 2021 and ended on May 2, 2021. Comments received during this time were addressed in the FEIR.

The Simi Valley Double Track Project is located on a 2.2-mile segment of the Ventura County Line within the City of Simi Valley between Sequoia Avenue on the west to Hidden Ranch Drive on the east. This project will enable more frequent service in each direction, improved service reliability and on-time performance, in addition to providing safety improvements to five at-grade crossings which will make them Quiet Zone Ready. Improvements will also include new platform access with an underpass crossing that will create a more convenient and safer walkway for pedestrians.

This project is part of Metrolink’s 10-year, $10 billion Southern California Optimized Rail Expansion (SCORE) Program. SCORE is a capital improvement program to upgrade rail infrastructure enabling bi-directional service every 30 minutes throughout the day. In addition to increasing capacity, SCORE initiatives will modernize signaling, grade crossings and other safety enhancements that will allow cities to apply for Quiet Zones. SCORE improvements are projected to result in reduced commute times and better air quality.

All funded SCORE projects are due to be completed prior to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A 2019 study by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation projected SCORE benefits to Southern California to be long-lasting by generating 1.3 million new jobs and increasing the gross regional product by $684 billion through 2050.

Metrolink has received $2.3 billion to fund SCORE projects to date.

ABOUT METROLINK (metrolinktrains.com)

Metrolink is Southern California’s regional passenger rail service enabling people to connect to their jobs and explore all that the region has to offer. Prior to the pandemic, Metrolink has nearly 12 million annual boardings from people who choose to ride the train to avoid gridlock, removing an estimated 9.3 million vehicles from the roads and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 130,000 metric tons each year. Metrolink is the largest passenger rail agency in California and the third largest in the United States operating seven lines along a 538-mile network that travels across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.