Fullerton : Amtrak’s Desert Wind to Stop in Fullerton

Orange County will have rail passenger service to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City beginning Sunday when Amtrak’s Desert Wind begins a once-a-day stop at Fullerton.

Designed to improve train connections for Los Angeles-area passengers traveling through Chicago, the schedule change calls for the eastbound train to make a daily stop at Fullerton at 1:55 p.m., with a westbound train arriving at 1:30 p.m.

Some cars from the Desert Wind continue on from Salt Lake City to Denver and Chicago for further connections to the East Coast. As part of the new scheduling, the Desert Wind, which originates in Los Angeles, will no longer stop in Pasadena and Pomona.

A brief ceremony celebrating inauguration of the service is scheduled at the Fullerton depot Sunday at 1:30 p.m.

Today, Amtrak celebrates 15 years of service on its Los Angeles-San Diego route with a series of celebrations at Orange County depots.

Since the San Diegan began service in 1971, running time on the 128-mile route has been reduced from 2 hours, 55 minutes to 2 hours, 40 minutes, and the number of round trips has increased from three to seven.

Ridership has increased dramatically, from an average of 28,000 per month in 1971 to 94,769.

Ceremonies scheduled today will feature a special train with cars named for each city stop along the route. Orange County observances are scheduled to begin at 11:45 a.m. in Fullerton, followed by programs at 12:05 p.m. in Anaheim, 12:25 p.m. in Santa Ana, 12:45 p.m. in San Juan Capistrano and 1:05 p.m. in San Clemente.

The train also stops at Oceanside and Del Mar en route to San Diego.