Metrolink, Southern California’s regional passenger rail system, is implementing significant adjustments to its San Bernardino Line schedule beginning on January 27. 

The changes are designed to relieve train congestion on the heavily traveled corridor and improve on-time performance and service reliability for customers. The changes are planned to extend to the Arrow service, and minor modifications to four Ventura County Line trains will also be taking effect.

“Last fall, we embarked on the most ambitious schedule expansion in Metrolink’s history with the goal of delivering greater flexibility and convenience for our customers,” Metrolink CEO Darren Kettle said. “While this aspirational change was made with our riders’ needs in mind, we’ve learned some important lessons over the last several months, particularly on our San Bernardino Line where we’ve seen cascading delays due to limited track capacity. In response to these challenges and feedback we’ve received from customers, we’re making some much-needed changes to our schedule to improve operations and ensure we provide the high-quality service our passengers expect and deserve.”

Becoming a Regional System

As part of the agency’s ongoing transformation from a commuter railroad to a true regional passenger rail provider, Metrolink introduced 32 new weekday trains in October. This was implemented accounting for a nearly 23% systemwide service expansion with more midday and late-evening options. 

Eighteen of the new trains were added on the San Bernardino Line, including 10 roundtrips between Los Angeles and Covina that shortened train intervals at LA Union Station to 30 minutes throughout much of the day.

Despite extensive planning and modeling, when the increased volume was introduced in a real-world setting customers experienced recurring delays and cancellations caused by train congestion. 

Adjustments to the Schedule

The primary challenge to operate the current schedule effectively is track capacity. To resolve the issues while still delivering an enhanced level of service for San Bernardino Line user, Metrolink is incorporating the following changes:

• The 10 Covina roundtrips will be discontinued. They will be replaced by five roundtrips between LA Union Station and the Montclair Station, where travelers with connections in San Bernardino County can transfer to and from many local transit providers.

• Metrolink will continue to operate 17 roundtrips between San Bernardino and Los Angeles, along with one roundtrip connecting the Redlands-Downtown Station and Union Station.

• The two limited stop express trains between Redlands and Los Angeles will now serve all station stops, benefiting more communities and riders.

• A late-evening train from Los Angeles to San Bernardino will be reinstated in response to customer feedback.

The Arrow service schedule is being updated to better align with the new San Bernardino Line schedule, while the impacted Ventura County Line trains will see only slight schedule adjustments to improve service.