MTA to Study 2 Possible Valley Rail Lines

Seeking to increase transit options in the San Fernando Valley, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority agreed Thursday to study the possibility of running trains between Chatsworth and Warner Center and North Hollywood and Glendale.

New MTA board member Hal Bernson asked that the agency explore the idea of working with Metrolink to provide rail service along already existing tracks connecting the Chatsworth Metrolink station with Warner Center in Woodland Hills.

The trains would allow passengers from Ventura County who work in Warner Center to ride Metrolink uninterrupted into Woodland Hills. Commuters from downtown Los Angeles could also take a single train into the West Valley’s largest business center.

Currently, the nearest that riders can get to Warner Center is the Chatsworth depot, where they must transfer to local shuttle buses to reach their offices.

“We need to look at all the possibilities,” said Bernson, who attended his first MTA meeting Thursday as a full member appointed by Mayor Richard Riordan.

“We own that right of way” along Canoga Avenue, added Francine Oschin, Bernson’s aide for transportation issues. “They would need track improvements, but for almost no cost, you could run direct trains out from Ventura County . . . down to Warner Center.”

Also, board member Larry Zarian of Glendale proposed the MTA and Metrolink look into running trains between Glendale and North Hollywood, where a subway station is eventually to open. Tracks between the two destinations already exist there as well. Separately, the MTA board also voted to establish a working group to explore ways to improve bus service in the Valley and to give the Valley more control over its bus lines.