Sen. Alex Padilla and local leaders highlight federal funds for East San Fernando Valley light rail project

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Sen. Alex Padilla speaking at the event on Tuesday. From left: Rep. Tony Cardenas; Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins; L.A. City Council President Nury Martinez; L.A. Council Member and Metro Board Member Paul Krekorian; Glendale Council Member, Metro Vice Chair and Metrolink Chair Ara Najarian and Executive Secretary of LA-OC Building & Construction Trades Council Chris Hannan.

A press event featuring U.S. Senator Alex Padilla to highlight federal funding for Metro’s upcoming light rail project between Van Nuys and the San Fernando/Sylmar Metrolink Station was held Tuesday in Van Nuys. Video of the event is above. 

Formally known as the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor, the light rail line is prepping for the construction stage. Here’s the project homepage on metro.net and check out the project map and renderings below. The light rail line will serve as a link between Metro’s busiest bus corridor in the Valley, Metro’s G (Orange) Line busway, two Metrolink lines and Metro’s future Sepulveda Transit Corridor that will connect the San Fernando Valley to the Westside and, eventually, Los Angeles International Airport. 

Metro Vice Chair Ara Najarian, at right, kicked off the event, which also included L.A. City Council Member and Metro Board Member Paul Krekorian. “Our agency is aggressively moving forward with this smartly designed and innovative project that will bring a better quality of life to all the residents of the San Fernando Valley,” said Najarian, who also pointed out that a recent change in federal policy will make it easier to hire local Valley residents to help build the rail line.

Sen. Padilla worked with Metro and our local Congressional delegation to help secure $5 million in funding for the light rail line. Also highlighted during the event was President Biden’s proposal to provide $250 million for the project in Fiscal Year 2023 via the Federal Transit Administration’s Expedited Project Delivery (EPD) Pilot Program.

Here is a project map and some renderings of the project:

Laurel Canyon station.

View of Van Nuys and Victory.

Street level view of Victory Station.

Roscoe Station.

Arleta Station.

Rail car maintenance facility

Another view of the maintenance facility, which would be in Van Nuys.

Categories: Policy & Funding, Projects

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9 replies ›

  1. I think the density and commuters out of the valley could use an above-grade alternative here; running the trains at grade is good but the Expo line is a good example of how a great transit option becomes a fancy bus when it has to stop at traffic signals.

  2. You’d think after all the mistakes made with the expo line, this should have been an obviously bad idea.

    This line build literally reeks political ploy. “Hey look, I made a train for the poor people that can’t afford cars down Van Nuys happen, re-elect me!”

  3. Please not another at-grade trolley that whisks us away at 20mph stopping at every major intersection along the way. Van Nuys Blvd. is perfect for an aerial line – a wide boulevard, few sound issues, and unobstructed views of the Valley.

    • Why would you need to duplicate the same service as Metrolink? The cost of trackage through the pass would be better off spent on extending the Red Line to its logical terminus at Burbank Airport, which again would feed into Metrolink to Santa Clarita and points beyond.

      • 1) I heavily doubt 2 miles of trackage would pay for a red line extension. $64K of that money would be better off building a second platform and set of track at the Burbank Airport (North) Station.

        2) There is currently no Metrolink station at Van Nuys/San Fernando Rd where the parallel service begins. That would effectively make this a train to nowhere. A title that the Green Line currently holds until the LAX extension is complete. Might as well cancel this project, extend the 405 Subway to Panorama city and call it quits (which to be honest), I’m more in favor of that at this point).

        3) Duplicate the same service as Metrolink? Man, LA county REALLY needs to get rid of this mentality once and for all. By this same logic, extending the Red Line to Burbank Airport will be pointless as it would duplicate service with the buses and Metrolink trains that already connect some red line stations to Burbank Airport.

        • 1 – additional platform at Airport North would be highly beneficial whenever HSR comes into fruition.

          2 -agreed that an extension of Sepulveda subway makes more sense (provided the cockamamie monorail concept goes away)

          3 -bus service does not equal rail service. A multimodal transportation center at Burbank Airport would create connections between Metrolink, buses, Red Line and HSR. It would also relieve some stress from Union Station and potentially 7th/Metro.

          Not a Metro issue, but it’s time to get moving on the long-planned replacement terminal at BUR. HSR or a Red Line extension don’t make sense without it.

  5. The part I like most is how it appears as though two general purpose lanes per direction will be retained along the route.

  6. extension this line to the 6 flags magic mountain with metro red line and metro sepulveda lax line.