(The following article by Phil Pitchford was posted on the Press-Enterprise website on July 27.)
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Michele Denham, a Moreno Valley resident who uses Metrolink to commute to work in downtown Los Angeles, saved about $65 this month on her rail pass because of chronic delays on the Riverside line.
But she said she would gladly give it all back if the trains would run on time.
“It’s late all the time,” said Denham, who spends about five hours a day getting to and from work. “With that long of a commute, time is money.”
Denham and other Metrolink riders got a financial break after paying what they said is a bigger price in recent weeks — lost time, missed appointments and frustrating waits. Metrolink sold monthly passes at a discount for July because of delays it said were caused by conflicts with Union Pacific freight trains.
The discounts will stop in August, however, because Union Pacific and Metrolink have improved on-time performance on that line, Metrolink spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said. She said performance remains substandard because Union Pacific still has not improved enough.
“Although they have improved significantly, they still are not living up to our expectations,” Tyrrell said. “They still have not convinced us they can sustain this over time.”
That on-time percentage along the Riverside line was in the low 60s a few weeks ago and has crept into the high 80s, but still is not in the 90 percent to 95 percent level Metrolink wants. The line includes stops in Pedley and East Ontario on the way to Los Angeles’ Union Station.
Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis said the railroad is pleased with its improvement. But he cautioned that Union Pacific is moving record amounts of freight from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
“We’ve been working with the commuter service, and hopefully will have the schedule straightened out,” Davis said. “We make every effort to accommodate all the commuter services, as well as Amtrak, which operate over the freight lines.”
The railroad is re-examining all of its operations within the Los Angeles basin, Davis said. Freight remains the company’s biggest generator of business, but it also partners with commuter services in Southern California, Chicago and Dallas/Fort Worth.
Some Metrolink riders keep a running log of when their trains depart and arrive and compare it to published schedules, said Chris Matthews of Loma Linda. Others start circulating petitions when the service begins to lag.
“Everybody wants to get home to do their thing, so it’s a drag,” she said. But she added, “at least they (Metrolink officials) are making an effort.”
Others were more hopeful. Jameal Jempson, a student from Moreno Valley, uses the Riverside line to get home from Cal State Los Angeles.
“It usually runs pretty well,” he said. “I just wish it ran a little later.”
While the discount was expected to cost Metrolink about $80,000, there is no way the railroad can recoup that money from Union Pacific, Tyrrell said.
“These people on the Riverside line have put up with a lot,” she said. “We just want to get these people to work, and we don’t think we are asking for the impossible.”