Diverse Crowd Has Taken to Riding the Rails : Passengers of all kinds are enjoying the comfort and reduced stress by commuting on Metrolink trains.

Every weekday morning, the Metrolink whistle can be heard as it approaches each of four Ventura County stops. In this land of the automobile, the sound of mass transit is a curiosity. Who rides these trains? Is it just people in dark suits, headed for downtown banks? Garment retailers bound for the Cooper Building?

There must be more than that. It’s been running every day from Moorpark and Simi Valley for more than 18 months, Camarillo opened a station Feb. 14, and Oxnard opened April 4. Is it possible that the most auto-dependent part of the country is really making a change?

There’s one way to find out.

APRIL 20, 1994 / OXNARD, 6:21 a.m.

It’s a chilly, quiet morning at the Greyhound / Amtrak station on 4th Street. A dozen or so people wait to board, not a pin-stripe among them.

Oxnard is the only actual station on the Ventura County line. Here, tickets are purchased from a person rather than a machine.

Five periwinkle-and-white passenger cars, each with a 148-person capacity, arrive right on time. Best not be late if you’re riding the Metrolink, it seems. The passengers board and the train is gone by 6:22 a.m.

This is the second train of the day; the first left nearly an hour ago. Some people’s perception of mass transit is of dimly lit, slightly smelly, graffiti-covered vehicles with Styrofoam cups and candy bar wrappers as floor covering.

But this is a pleasant surprise. Not a cup or wrapper in sight, no unpleasant odor, a well-lit mauve interior with not so much as an initial carved in the wall. Each car has three levels of attractive, cushioned seating. No smoking, no alcohol, no spitting permitted.

Sitting alone, looking way too comfortable, is Norma Cooper, a legal secretary from Torrance who is moving to Ventura soon. She’s out this morning testing Metrolink and marveling at the option to sit and relax on the way to work in downtown Los Angeles.

On a lower deck, in a quiet corner, is a member of the clergy. Father Richard Loomis, of St. Anthony’s in Oxnard, is headed for a meeting at a downtown cathedral, a ride he takes several times a month. “Before the Simi Valley stop, it’s quiet enough to do my morning prayers,” he reported.

It is quiet. There’s a few headsets (no radios allowed without them), some newspapers, a couple of industrious people who appear to be working.

At one of the seats equipped with a writing table is Tracey Lipsett, a student at Cal State Los Angeles. The mother of a 21-month-old, she is intent over her books, taking advantage of the time to study without distraction.

In the next car, dressed in matching red sweat shirts, are two sisters, Elisabeth and Gretchen Kealy, communicating in sign language. Elisabeth, 11, and Gretchen, 7, are headed for Burbank, to a school for deaf and hearing-impaired students.

The train travels through farmland, headed for Camarillo. Trees, flowers, blue sky and mile after mile of strawberry fields. Not a bad way to start the day.

Gazing out the window is Bill Fisch, owner of a manufacturing company in Burbank. “This is the biggest no-brainer in the world,” he said. “I am one happy commuter. Even my wife has noticed a big difference in how I feel when I get home. The only way I’d be happier is if they’d stop so we could pick strawberries.”

He returns his gaze to the fields.

CAMARILLO, 6:33 a.m.

Not many boarding at Camarillo, although more than at Oxnard. Camarillo and the next three stops are “platform stops,” in the vernacular. No real train station, but ticket machines and plenty of parking.

Looks like bikes are allowed. In white shorts and white shirt, bike in tow, is Richard Lewis, a retiree of four years. Lewis takes his bike to L. A.’s Union Station about once a month. “It’s great fun,” he said. “I’m seeing L. A. on my bike.” Today, he plans to ride from Union Station to UCLA.

Two bikes are permitted on the lower level of each passenger car, although a bike permit is required. There is no charge for the permit, and it’s good for two months, Lewis reports.

Mass transit as recreation transportation, now there’s a concept for Southern California. Imagine weekends, bound for the beach, cooler in tow. The brochure says no surfboards are permitted on Metrolink, but who knows what the future holds? Shirts and shoes are also required.

Out the window, the strawberry fields continue, interspersed with lettuce fields, orange groves and assorted other fruits and vegetables awaiting harvest.

Inside, chatting in one of the face-to-face seating arrangements are Kelly Park and Laura Gilkinson, co-workers who ride daily to a company in Glendale. Gilkinson hopes that recent changes at the company will help offset commuting costs. The company has recently crossed the 100-employee mark, where employment of a transportation coordinator is mandated. “I like everything about this except the price,” she said.

Metrolink fares range from $5.50 to $7.50 for one-way tickets to as much as $208 for an unlimited monthly pass for commuting between Oxnard and Los Angeles.

The train continues its quiet journey over the hills toward Moorpark as buildings begin to appear. The whistle blows as High Street comes into view. There’s the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama & Vaudeville Co. Always wondered where that was.

MOORPARK, 6:44 a.m.

Business really picks up here. Must be close to 100 people getting on, including Angela Winter and Monica Lichtenstein, who join colleagues Park and Gilkinson, headed for Glendale.

The four co-workers travel together daily, each choosing her own form of entertainment. Gilkinson reads the newspaper, Winters does office work and Lichtenstein plays Tetris on a Game Boy. According to her friends, Park considers it her duty to spend the commute distracting the other three.

Two cars away, the Kealy sisters have been joined by half a dozen others. Eight children under the age of 14 are animatedly signing to each other.

The scenery, sadly, is changing to car dealerships and rows of fast-food restaurants. Farm fields are out of sight, although an occasional park can be seen as Simi Valley is traversed, west to east.

At least a dozen headsets are spotted now, a few Wall Street Journals, many copies of the Los Angeles Times, a variety of books, an occasional Bible.

In a now half-full car is Paula Mills, a Moorpark resident and bankruptcy adviser who works downtown. She looks to be about a third of the way through “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.” She began Metrolinking in August, she says, and has since read 25 books, admittedly not all as meaty as her present selection.

“The best thing is, I don’t have to drive,” she said.

Her disdain for driving is shared by Debbie Barry, who recently returned from a three-year stay in Japan. “I couldn’t wait to get back and have my own car,” she said. “After six months of awful traffic and spending so much money, I quit driving and went back to public transit.”

Another whistle and the last stop in Ventura County.

SIMI VALLEY, 6:57 a.m.

Good grief, this must be double the number that boarded in Moorpark, and look at the size of that parking lot. The conductor confirms that Simi Valley is the busiest stop in the county--about 1,000 trips per day and parking for 600 cars.

There are few empty rows now. The group bound for the hearing-impaired school in Burbank has grown to 14, one of them on crutches. Keeping up with the “conversation” is now impossible for the uninitiated.

Writing furiously in a window seat at the end of one car is paralegal Steve Tapp, who uses his commute to work on his second screenplay.

“No, the first one didn’t sell,” he lamented.

He has met numerous people since he began riding in November, 1992, and has made at least one good friend. “This is kind of like church,” he noted. “People sit on the same car, in the same seat almost every day. You tend to get to know the people around you.”

Leaving the last of the great scenery behind, the train enters the tunnel that joins Simi Valley and the San Fernando Valley. It’s a very long tunnel. For the transplanted New York subway riders, it must feel like home.

On the other side of the car, there aren’t many passengers looking out the window. The train runs mostly through industrial areas and, unless you’re into counting colors of concrete, there’s not much to hold your attention. Travelers now pursue their commuter activities in earnest.

Ten minutes out of Simi Valley, the first groups begin to collect their belongings. First stop is Chatsworth, followed by Northridge, Van Nuys, Burbank and Glendale. Few leave the train at the first three stops, but there’s a significant departure at the Burbank and Glendale stations. The bulk of the passengers, however, seem bound for downtown.

About 7:50, a general rustling is heard. Passengers bending to collect items under the seat, straightening papers to return to file folders, checking lipstick, popping breath mints, opening and closing briefcases.

LOS ANGELES, 7:55 a.m.

The five cars empty quickly and the commuters head off to the Red Line, the Blue Line, the DASH bus, MTA or Foothill bus or Metrolink Shuttle. Some will complete their commute on foot. No one looks hurried or harried, quite unlike those waiting at a nearby traffic light.

There’s still not a cup or wrapper in sight.

It’s been an enlightening experience. As a 27-year resident of Southern California, I really didn’t think that mass transit would ever find acceptance here. Clearly, I was wrong.

The great thing is that nobody I talked to seemed to feel that they were making a big sacrifice for the good of the environment. They ride because it’s less stressful, it’s clean, it’s quiet and it’s productive time. For some, productive means finishing “The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich”; for others, it’s getting caught up on office work, saying morning prayers, or simply gazing and reflecting. But it’s all time that won’t be spent behind the wheel of a car.

A recent Metrolink survey showed that 78% of Ventura County commuters drove in a car alone prior to Metrolinking. Which suggests that they all share a common reason for using mass transit--it beats driving. That, of course, is the only way Metrolink will ever work.

As for me, I’ve already scheduled a day to take my 8-year-old downtown to hear the Los Angeles Philharmonic rehearse.

Getting There

Metrolink operates Mondays through Fridays only. All fares and schedules subject to change. Please call for verification.

OXNARD

Station location: 201 N. 4th St.

Schedule

Departs Oxnard 5:31 a.m. Arrives L.A. 7:05 a.m. 6:21 a.m. 7:55 a.m. Departs L.A. 4:26 p.m. Arrives 6 p.m. 5:05 p.m. Oxnard 6:37 p.m.

Fares

One-way: $7.50 Round-trip: $14 Ten-trip: $65 Monthly: $208 Fares scheduled to change June 30

CAMARILLO

Station location: 30 Lewis Road

Schedule

Departs 5:42 a.m. Arrives L.A. 7:05 a.m. Camarillo 6:33 a.m. 7:55 a.m. Departs L.A. 4:26 p.m. Arrives 5:46 p.m. 5:05 p.m. Camarillo 6:24 p.m.

Fares

One-way: $6.50 Round-trip: $12 Ten-trip: $55 Monthly: $176 Fares scheduled to change June 30

MOORPARK

Station location: 300 High St.

Schedule

Departs 5:13 a.m. Arrives L.A. 6:24 a.m. Moorpark 5:54 a.m. 7:05 a.m. 6:44 a.m. 7:55 a.m. 7:24 a.m. 8:34 a.m. 2:43 p.m. 4:01 p.m. Departs L.A. 1:05 p.m. Arrives 2:19 p.m. 4:25 p.m. Moorpark 5:34 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 6:13 p.m. 5:40 p.m. 6:54 p.m. 6:27 p.m. 7:36 p.m.

Fares

One-way: $6.50 Round-trip: $12 Ten-trip: $55 Monthly: $176 SIMI VALLEY

Station location: 5050 Los Angeles Ave.

Schedule

Departs 5:26 a.m. Arrives L.A. 6:24 a.m. Simi Valley 6:07 a.m. 7:05 a.m. 6:57 a.m. 7:55 a.m. 7:37 a.m. 8:34 a.m. 2:56 p.m. 4:01 p.m. Departs L.A. 1:05 p.m. Arrives 2 p.m. 4:25 p.m. Simi Valley 5:20 p.m. 5:05 p.m. 5:59 p.m. 5:40 p.m. 6:35 p.m. 6:23 p.m. 7:18 p.m.

Fares

One-way: $5.50 Round-trip: $10 Ten-trip: $45 Monthly: $144 For information, call (800) 371-LINK.