Passenger Trains > New Morning Train To Santa Barbara To Start April 2

A new morning Surfliner from Los Angeles to Goleta — one timed to meet the needs of commuters headed to Santa Barbara County — is slated to begin service on April 2, according to a story published by Noozhawk.

The morning train is expected to arrive Goleta between 07:30 and 07:40.

The plan to start this service has been in the works for years.

Here’s a link to the story:

https://www.noozhawk.com/article/morning_commuter_surfliner_train_expected_to_hit_south_coast_on_april_2

Posted from iPhone

LOSSAN/Surfliner is an intercity rail service. Perfect example of Board politics and why the state should be running intercity rail services. The retiming is a disaster for efficiency and ridership. Very few will ride it.

On the other hand, the new train is being run on a trial basis, and the locals are picking up the tab.

So where’s the harm?

I’ll at least wait to see ridership numbers before declaring it a bad idea.

Posted from iPhone

SanDiegan Wrote:
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> LOSSAN/Surfliner is an intercity rail service.
> Perfect example of Board politics and why the
> state should be running intercity rail services.
> The retiming is a disaster for efficiency and
> ridership. Very few will ride it.

What ever your personal beef with LASSAN is get over it. All you ever do is whine and complain about this or that. You never provide any actual rebutal data or real world workable suggestions.

walstib Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the other hand, the new train is being run on a
> trial basis, and the locals are picking up the
> tab.
>
> So where’s the harm?
>
> I’ll at least wait to see ridership numbers
> before declaring it a bad idea.
>
> Posted from iPhone

The harm is in damaging the economic performance of the entire corridor and stretching the equipment even thinner. This train is the wrong tool for the job and is misuse of intercity rail resources.

At least something is happening, rather than years of inertia under Caltrans management.

Caltrans also ran a service out of Colfax for years; the first thing the JPA management did was move it to Auburn and run it at commute hours, with hundreds of passengers from Placer County stations rather than 10 or so out of Colfax.

The San Joaquin board is also looking at an early morning service into Sacramento, paired with the existing 5pm departure, for the same reason.

There will always be pros and cons of various changes, but a fresh look can be helpful.

The point of trains is to move passengers.

If changing the schedule attracts more riders, that’s a win in my book.

I suspect the morning service will attract a good deal of riders from Los Angeles and Ventura counties, as well as from Carpinteria in southern Santa Barbara County.

Posted from iPhone

SanDiegan Wrote:
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> The harm is in damaging the economic performance
> of the entire corridor

Proof?

> and stretching the
> equipment even thinner.

Proof?

> This train is the wrong
> tool for the job

And please explain to us peasants exactly what is the correct tool for the job?

> and is misuse of intercity rail
> resources.

Really? Today's reality is that Goelta to LA to San Diego is regional rail. The only thing on the Pacific Surfliner route that could be considered inter-city would be the trains to San Luis Obispo. And as far as resources, slowly over time there will be less and less reliance upon Amtrak resources as more state owned equipment is purchased and but into service.

walstib Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> On the other hand, the new train is being run on a
> trial basis, and the locals are picking up the
> tab.
>
> So where’s the harm?
>


This does not sound like a new train, but a schedule change of an existing train.

"The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments plans to spend up to $2.5 million of Measure A money to fund the service, which would require starting a northbound train earlier from Union Station in Los Angeles."

It sounds like 761 will leave earlier which might be bad because it might just start in Los Angeles instead of San Diego. If the commuter service fails to attract riders then the harm is pushing away those riders originating south of Los Angeles to other trains or autos. They once ran the daytime San Luis Obispo train to and from Los Angeles and it was not as successful as a through train to San Diego.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

I think Todd is correct. In any case, ridership numbers will tell the story and determine if the service is worth keeping.

-John

Yes, I think it is just 761 rebranded. Starting it early in LA seems a much better choice than the idea they were throwing around to stop 785 in Moorpark the night before, and then continue on in the morning rush hour slot.

Santa Barbara and Goleta are relatively expensive places to live, and you can tell, at least some of that, by traffic flows on Hwy 101. Try heading north into Santa Barbara in the morning and leaving south out of SB about 3pm on a weekday. It's gotten crazy. There are alot of people that live in Ventura and Camarillo that commute to SB and Goleta and back, just as there are people who live in Lompoc, Buellton and Santa Maria doing the same. From what I remember one of the biggest employers in Goleta is Raytheon.

I suspect they are trying to make a quasi commuter train out of 761 and it's worth a try just to see how the public responds.



Allen

I had heard they were going to call the new train 759. I am not sure if they decided to use 761 for the train number.

But, they are pulling for the 13th and 14th roundtrips. the 13th is in the 2018/2019 business plan.
And I heard they were looking into the 14th as well.

At a LOSSAN TAC Meeting. They had said one train set will be on the road longer.

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival