virginia colony moorpark california overview owner southern california regional rail authority locale southern california transit type commuter rail number of lines 7 1 number of stations 55 1 daily ridership 41 951 q4 2014 1 chief executive art leahy headquarters mta building los angeles website welcome to metrolink operation began operation october 26 1992 2 operator s amtrak under contract to the scrra reporting marks scax number of vehicles 55 locomotives 274 rail cars 1 technical system length 388 mi 624 km 1 track gauge 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge top speed 90 mph 140 km h system map metrolink reporting mark scax is a commuter rail system serving southern california ; it consists of seven lines and 55 stations operating on 388.2 miles 624.7 km of rail network . 1 it travels up to 79 miles per hour 127 km h and up to 90 mph on sections of the orange county line . the system operates in los angeles orange riverside san bernardino and ventura counties as well as to oceanside in san diego county . 3 4 it connects with the los angeles county metro rail system the san diego coaster commuter rail and sprinter light rail services and with amtrak s pacific surfliner coast starlight southwest chief and sunset limited intercity rail services . 5 the system founded in 1991 as the southern california regional rail authority scrra and quickly adopting metrolink as the marketing and user friendly moniker started operation in 1992 . average weekday ridership rose to 42 265 in 2012 6 but had fallen slightly to 41 951 in the fourth quarter of 2014 . 1 contents 1 routes 2 fares 3 history 3.1 notable incidents 3.1.1 placentia april 2002 3.1.2 glendale january 2005 3.1.3 chatsworth los angeles september 2008 3.1.4 oxnard february 2015 4 future 4.1 high speed rail interface 5 governance 6 facilities 7 rolling stock 7.1 livery 8 see also 9 references 10 external links routes edit in addition to several suburban communities and cities metrolink also serves several points of interest such as downtown los angeles ; bob hope airport ; california state university los angeles ; angel stadium ; and the san clemente pier . 7 special service has also been extended to the pomona fairplex 8 the ventura county fairgrounds 9 and the auto club speedway 10 for certain events . the rail system experiences its peak ridership during weekday mornings and afternoons . 11 more trains operate during the morning between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. 12 however the agency s recent when success providing trains to concerts at the honda center has rekindled interest in providing more service to other venues near stations and inspired aeg in its effort to build farmers field a proposed nfl football stadium to cite the possibility of selling metrolink fare media at the time of purchasing tickets for events at the stadium to meet environmental concerns regarding increased vehicular traffic should the stadium be built . 13 14 line 3 series termini operation routing 3 4 91 perris valley line 700 15 los angeles perris daily southeast from union station east along the riverside california route 91 freeway to riverside turns south along interstate 215 . antelope valley line 200 16 los angeles lancaster daily northwest from union station roughly following interstate 5 . turns east then north to parallel state route 14 . inland empire orange county line 800 17 san bernardino oceanside daily southwest from the santa fe depot to follow the riverside freeway west . turns south to parallel interstate 5 . orange county line 600 18 los angeles oceanside daily northwest from the oceanside transportation center along interstate 5 . deviates slightly from the interstate in north orange and southeast los angeles counties . riverside line 400 19 los angeles riverside weekdays northwest from the downtown riverside metrolink amtrak station eventually paralleling state route 60 . san bernardino line 300 20 los angeles san bernardino daily west from the santa fe depot between interstate 10 and i 210 . runs in the interstate 10 median starting near el monte . ventura county line 100 21 900 22 los angeles east ventura weekdays east from the east ventura metrolink station roughly following state route 118 . turns south at bob hope airport towards union station . trains with 900 series numbers run between union station and bob hope airport . fares edit metrolink ticket vending machines . machines also sell tickets for amtrak trains and the flyaway bus to lax . metrolink s fare structure is based on a flat fee for boarding the train and an additional cost for distance with fares being calculated in 25 cent increments between stations . metrolink riders can ride most buses in los angeles and orange county as well as the metro rail free with their valid ticket or pass and monthly pass holders in orange los angeles and ventura counties can use amtrak pacific surfliner and thruway coach services through the rail 2 rail program . 23 clarification needed fare increases normally occur annually in july to coincide with increased fuel and labor expenses and have generally averaged between 3.5 % and 5 % per year although the restructuring caused a larger jump in rates . 24 the oil price increases since 2003 are partly to blame for consistently increasing fares as metrolink trains are powered by diesel fuel . 25 in july 2011 metrolink introduced a new weekend pass allowing for passengers to travel all weekend trains for only 10 . this was the first pass of its kind on metrolink giving passengers unlimited rides all weekend long going anywhere in the system . however with a fare increase on july 1 2013 the weekend pass was renamed the weekend day pass and is valid for one day rather than the entire weekend . the weekend day pass still functions as an ezpass and tap media for travel on lacmta and other l.a. county transit services . on january 1 2016 metrolink lowered short distance fares to as low as 3 for adults youth students and 1.50 for disabled riders for one way tickets . these fares are offered to encourage local travel on metrolink and are good for travel from one station to the next on any line . for example riding from cal state l.a. to los angeles union station is only 3 for one way and 6 round trip for adults youth students . el monte station to los angeles union station is 6 for an adult one way ticket and 12 for a round trip ticket . for travel more than two stations distance based pricing is more affordable . 26 history edit see also caltrain metrolink trains approaching and leaving union station during the evening rush hour the member agencies of the scrra purchased 175 miles 282 km of track maintenance yards and stations and other property from southern pacific for 450 million in 1990 . the rights to use los angeles union station were purchased from union pacific the station s owner at the time for 17 million in the same year union station has since been purchased by and is owned by the los angeles county metropolitan transportation authority . 27 28 the authority was formally founded in 1991 . 29 it began operation of the ventura santa clarita and san bernardino lines on october 26 1992 the santa clarita line later became the antelope valley line 2 30 which were operated by amtrak . in 1993 service was expanded to include the riverside and orange county lines in 1994 . the inland empire orange county line opened in 1995 becoming the first suburb to suburb commuter rail line in the country . in 1995 more trains on the orange county service were funded . 31 the system gained its current form in 2002 with the addition of the 91 line . 32 from july 2004 metrolink fares were changed from zone based to one based on distance . in 2005 a five year operational contract was awarded to connex railroad veolia transport . in 2005 the orange county transportation authority approved a plan to increase frequencies to 76 trains daily on the orange county and inland empire orange county lines by 2009 33 and funding for increased metrolink service was included in the renewal of the measure m sales tax for transportation approved by voters in november 2006 . 34 a proposed station in yorba linda was canceled in 2005 due to local opposition . 35 in july 2008 it was announced that ridership had risen 16 % over the previous year . 36 37 following the 2008 chatsworth train collision in which 25 people died and 135 were injured a number of safety measures were taken ; in the fall of 2009 inward facing video cameras were installed in locomotives in order to ensure that staff were complying with regulations in particular a ban on use of mobile phones 38 200 million of funding from the american recovery and reinvestment act was provided to implement the positive train control crash avoidance system 39 and in 2010 the first of 117 energy absorbing passenger carriages which lessen the toll on passengers in the case of an accident were received by the operator . 40 amtrak regained the contract to operate metrolink beginning in july 2010 . 41 average weekday ridership for the fourth quarter of 2009 was 38 400 . 36 in 2010 to save money in the face of funding cuts the metrolink board voted to reduce mid day service on the inland empire orange county line as well as weekend service on both the orange county and inland empire orange county lines . 42 average weekday ridership was 41 000 during may 2011 . a survey found that 90 % of users during a typical weekday in 2009 would have previously driven alone or carpooled and the system replaced an estimated that 25 000 vehicle trips . 6 during a weekend closure of interstate 405 in july 2011 the system recorded its highest ever weekend ridership of 20 000 boardings which was 50 % higher than the same weekend in 2010 and 10 % higher than the previous weekend ridership record which occurred during u2 360 tour in june 2011 . 43 ridership continued to rise in 2012 up 2 % 6 when average weekday ridership reached 42 265 . 6 although 2013 annual boardings were almost 12.07 million ridership dropped to 11.74 million by fall 2014 which was contrary to projections . blaming the decrease on the worst recession since world war ii metrolink said it found itself caught between cutting service and boosting fares both of which would probably further decrease ridership . 44 in early 2016 metrolink began testing mobile ticketing . 45 46 later in 2016 the mobile ticketing system was fully rolled out . citation needed the riverside county transportation commission rctc extended the 91 line southeast 24 miles 39 km to perris using the existing san jacinto branch line which it purchased in 1993 . 47 initial plans were for construction renovation of the line to begin in 2012 but these were delayed by a lawsuit filed by homeowners in the affected area who challenged the rctc s environmental report . the lawsuit was settled in late july 2013 . 48 construction on the 248.3 million extension began in october 2013 ; 49 service was originally planned to begin in december 2015 50 and then in february 2016 . 51 52 as of mid february 2016 update the extension s opening was planned in march of that year . 53 the extension opened in june 2016 . 54 notable incidents edit placentia april 2002 edit two people died and 22 were seriously injured on april 23 2002 when a bnsf freight train collided head on with a metrolink