Suvarna Garge (Editor)

San Bernardino Line

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Type
  
Commuter rail

Status
  
Operating

Line length
  
56.5 miles (90.9 km)

Stations
  
14

System
  
Metrolink

Daily ridership
  
12,633 (2012)

Operator
  
Metrolink

San Bernardino Line wwwrailpicturesnetimagesd1650465012014532

Character
  
Elevated and surface-level

Locale
  
Greater Los Angeles Area, Inland Empire

Terminis
  
Santa Fe Depot, Los Angeles Union Station

The San Bernardino Line is a Metrolink line running between Downtown Los Angeles east through the San Gabriel Valley and the Inland Empire to San Bernardino. It is one of the three initial lines (along with the Santa Clarita and Ventura Lines) on the original Metrolink system. When the line opened in 1992 service extended only as far as Pomona, but in 1993 the line was extended to San Bernardino. Saturday service was added in 1997 and Sunday service in 1998.

Contents

As of August 2016, 20 trains run Los Angeles to San Bernardino on weekdays. It is the first of the seven Metrolink lines to run on both Saturday and Sunday, with 10 trains to San Bernardino on Saturdays and 7 on Sundays. Two Saturday and two Sunday trains would continue to the downtown Riverside station until July 5, 2014, when weekend service on the 91 Line began.


Stations

The San Bernardino Line serves the following stations:

  1. Union Station, Downtown Los Angeles
  2. Cal State L.A. station, University Hills, Eastside Los Angeles
  3. El Monte station, El Monte
  4. Baldwin Park station, Baldwin Park
  5. Covina station, Covina
  6. Pomona North station, Pomona
  7. Claremont station, Claremont
  8. Montclair station, Montclair
  9. Upland station, Upland
  10. Rancho Cucamonga station, Rancho Cucamonga
  11. Fontana station, Fontana
  12. Rialto station, Rialto
  13. Santa Fe Depot, San Bernardino

There are also platforms at the Fairplex in Pomona and Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, but these are used only for special events.

Route

After leaving Union Station and crossing the Los Angeles River, the line follows the San Bernardino Freeway and El Monte Busway until just after the Cal State L.A. station; it then runs in the median of the San Bernardino Freeway to the El Monte Station along the former route of the Pacific Electric Railway's San Bernardino Line. Starting at El Monte, the line parallels the Union Pacific's Sunset Route (ex-Southern Pacific) for a few miles before turning northeast at Bassett 34.0507°N 117.9971°W / 34.0507; -117.9971 onto a Southern Pacific branch. At 34.0939°N 117.7303°W / 34.0939; -117.7303 (a former Southern Pacific/Pacific Electric-Santa Fe crossing), it switches to the Santa Fe; from Claremont to just west of San Bernardino it follows what was the Santa Fe's Pasadena Subdivision (and before that the Second District of the LA Division, the Santa Fe passenger main line). The San Bernardino Line is mostly single track with 6 passing sidings and short sections of double track near Covina, between Pomona and Montclair, and west of Fontana.

San Bernardino extension

San Bernardino Associated Governments (SANBAG) conducted an environmental impact report (EIR) to extend rail service southeast from the current eastern terminus in San Bernardino to Redlands. The extension was planned to follow the 9-mile (14 km) Redlands Subdivision and comprise two phases:

  • The Downtown San Bernardino Passenger Rail Project is planned to extend Metrolink's San Bernardino Line southeast one mile via double trackage to a new terminus at the San Bernardino Transit Center. The project's groundbreaking was in February 2014; at that time, the extension was expected to be completed by mid-2016. As of September 2015, the completion date had been extended to 2017. As of March 2017, the extension was under construction.
  • The Redlands Passenger Rail Project was a planned Metrolink extension to Redlands. As of 2011, service was to begin in the mid to late 2010s, with stations at Waterman Avenue next to the Inland Regional Center, the ESRI campus, Downtown Redlands, and the University of Redlands. As of December 2015, SANBAG decided that this second phase of the project, from the San Bernardino Transit Center to Redlands, would no longer be a Metrolink extension, but rather an independent system. SANBAG now plans to use diesel multiple units and have Omnitrans operate the system. However, San Bernardino Line express limited-stop trains would run on part of the extension, to the Downtown Redlands station. Construction is planned to begin in 2017 with the extension opening in 2020.

    • References

    San Bernardino Line Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA