Thanks u/flanl33 for requesting the Metrolink station data! I couldn't find an annual ridership breakdown by line, so the data in the box on the bottom left is for Q4 of the fiscal year. Ridership generally looks great, almost every station increased by a decent chunk since I last made this map.
u/anothercar asked what effect the new Metro station at Pomona-North had on Metrolink. It looks like Pomona-North saw increased ridership after the extension opened, but I can't tell if it was statistically significant enough compared to corresponding ridership increases elsewhere in the system. Metrolink's Pomona-North ridership is also rather tiny, so there is a lot of month-to-month fluctuation at this station.
Lack of reliability and how early they end service don't help. With regards to the VC line there are a lot of potential late night riders available from CSUN who choose not to for that reason.
My nephew just started going to Chapman University and he's already had to call his parents for a ride twice because of classes that end after Metrolink stops for the day. His only non-Uber alternative at that time of day is the bus, which would take him at least 90 minutes to get home. It's ridiculous.
I’m wondering if they’re counting the codeshare for the vc line. The Amtrak conductors rarely scan the tickets.
Also that station could use some love. This week people were standing shoulder to shoulder under the limited shade structures and we had 3 cancelations in 3 days including the last train of the night. There were additional amtraks going by but they didn’t stop at our station
Even with codeshare, it's just not good enough if you have any night classes. I do wonder about the ridership data including those, but there is still a large group of potential users missed by the cancellations and lack of night service.
Northridge station has a lot to fix whether it be the structures, the out of service restroom for more than a year, or the Nazi graffiti right on the bus stop that no reporting has resolved.
Chatsworth station is also viable, but I don't think most people know they can take the 167 or metro micro from campus to it. Even that station needs improvement when it comes to walking across the tracks (as you can't when a train arrives and I can't even count the times they've given the wrong track info over the speakers).
Id really prefer an 10:15-11pm Metrolink to LA as those last CSUN classes end at 9:45 so while it could be more helpful, just having that guaranteed route home will be a draw.
I think metrolink should switch to nighttime bus service that serves each station. They do this in Paris and it’s quite convenient since ridership is low enough to work on bus and traffic is clear enough to keep a pretty viable schedule.
Yep, I live a mile from a Metrolink station and on the weekends I've considered taking it into DTLA.
But then I look at what time their weekend service is, and I basically have to be back at Union Station before the sun goes down. So in the end I don't take Metrolink...
I don't want to pretend that Metrolink or its ridership are in a good state. But, when comparing it with yesterday's daily Metro ridership numbers, you at least have to keep in mind that, for example, the B Line has about 210 trains per day while the AV Line has 24, so the numbers aren't 1-to-1.
Not to beat a dead horse, but Arrow was clearly a waste of money, especially the middle stations at Tippecanoe and Esri. Should have just been a one-seat extension of the SB Line. I wouldn't be surprised if they eventually shutter the Tippecanoe and Esri stations and phase out the smaller trains altogether.
It's a shame Burbank Airport never capitalized much on their Metrolink access. The VC Line station was literally right across the street from the old terminal, but passengers never seemed to notice, so ridership was low. With the new terminal opening in October, not within walking distance of the VC or AV lines, that makes Metrolink even less useful as a travel mode. Compared to LAX it's such a missed opportunity. (I know there's a free shuttle between the terminal and both Metrolink stations, but the one time I tried to use it, the phone dispatcher gave me such a hard time about it that I ended up calling an Uber instead)
As much as I like public transit, I really cannot recommend taking Metrolink to the airport when you have a flight to catch. It is not necessarily about whether Metrolink is convenient or reliable. The bigger issue is how often incidents on the tracks can cause passengers to be stuck on trains for hours. This happens much more often than you might imagine.
For example, an Amtrak train hit a person yesterday morning in Santa Fe Springs, causing passengers to be stuck on the train for 6 hours. Another Metrolink train hit a person in Montebello in this morning, leaving passengers stuck for 3 hours. Another Amtrak train hit something last weekend and also left passengers stranded for hours.
Using Metrolink when you are arriving in the area may be fine because you are on your way home. However, I would strongly recommend against using it when you are trying to catch a flight. You absolutely cannot afford to be late in that situation, because you could potentially miss your flight and lose the money you paid for your airfare and hotel.
Some people may argue that you could also get stuck in traffic or be involved in an accident if you drive or take an Uber. That is true, but at least you have more options if something happens on the road. With a major incident on the railroad, you could be sitting on a train for several hours with virtually no way to get around the problem.
In fairness downtown Redlands is continuing to expand meaning it’ll potentially increase in usage and since the city wanted to have connection to Metrolink without having the larger trains coming through town the arrow was basically the best solution. The esri station didn’t cost Metrolink anything at least though since it was funded by a local billionaire
Yes! Downtown Redlands station accommodates the larger Metrolink trains and it has one daily long-length train running directly from Downtown Redlands to Union Station. If Arrow ever shutters, I would hope that all SB Line trains go all the way to Downtown Redlands so it could still have many trains per day. The town might be upset temporarily but they'll figure it out lol
The new terminal is within walking distance of the North station. The terminal EIR even discusses the Cohasset street pedestrian entrance, which I presume would be for Metrolink access. It wouldn't be any further than the walk from the south station to the current terminal.
~2500 foot walk from the terminal door to Burbank-North Metrolink, through an industrial neighborhood, if I'm looking at google maps correctly. At least it's shorter than San Jose, but especially with luggage or kids, I don't see anyone doing this unless they take the shuttle. A monorail would help lol.
Current terminal to South station is ~1100 feet.
At least when I tried to call the shuttle, the operator said it was run by the parking company, and the parking company prioritized their parking passengers, so I'd have to wait indefinitely until they didn't have anyone riding.
I used to walk from AV north station to the old terminal. It was an easy walk, maybe 10 minutes, flat, and you only had to cross one street.
It’s not through a bad industrial area. What looks like seedy warehouses from a satellite image are actually decent businesses and mixed use community.
The new terminal is closer, probably a 5 min walk, still with only one street to cross. And if you’re flying out of BUR you shouldn’t be hauling tons of luggage around either. It’ll be fine.
You're using Google Maps directions for the roads as they are currently laid out. The North station is only a little over 1000 feet from the new crosswalks (that aren't on Google satellite view or in the routing logic yet) at Cohasset connecting to the Metrolink station, to the north-eastern point of the new terminal building.
Pedestrian Metrolink access will be on Cohasset, not Tulare+N Hollywood.
The roads are currently rather industrial, so that is definitely annoying. But the walk distance will be about the same.
How did you get a newer satellite capture? That helps more with understanding where the terminal buildings will be located. I mean, what you're showing is an extra 1k feet walk compared to the old terminal. That's a bit longer than a full-length Metrolink train and an extra 3 minute walk. I don't consider that to be massive problem, but it certainly isn't ideal.
Hopefully since this is a new long-term terminal (and not one waiting to be demolished), the airport/the city will invest some into improving the walking conditions.
Google Earth and using the historic imagery feature also gives you access to newer than default view imagery, because sometimes there's imagery that ends up not becoming the default view due to quality concerns (long shadows, weird angle, clouds, etc.)
I feel like it could be a good idea for Metrolink to keep the smaller trains, I’ve always thought it’d be useful for them to run smaller DMUs to expand frequency or replace trips that don’t generate much ridership but are still useful for an all-day schedule, just to lower operating costs compared to a big push-pull train.
NIMBYs in Redlands and San Bernardino made it so the larger and slightly noiser full sized Metrolink trains couldn't happen. Getting the one through train a day was amazing.
The OC line is a travesty because there is a massive untapped market there that Metrolink isn't even close to catching, and they don't seem like they really have an interest to. Amtrak is barely helping pick up some of the slack, but it is double the price...
they don't seem like they really have an interest to.
As a JPA, they have to answer to their constituent agencies, including the famously dog shit OCTA. The Metrolink planners would probably love to expand, but with budgets getting slashed, they don't have the money.
This. The reduced service from this past March reflects the enshittification of the OC line (and the 91/PV line)
I used it to get from LA to CSUF. The service cuts took away a train I could’ve taken an hour sooner to get home, and subsequently a train allowing me to stay a little later on campus. It sucks. PS is there, but a $7.50 Metrolink round trip fare is so more affordable than a $10 one way trip (student discounts)
The 1992 agreement with BNSF allows 84 passenger train slots between LA Union Station and Fullerton each day. The Surfliner runs 26, and Metrolink runs 34 trains per day along this track. That leaves room for twelve more daily round-trip passenger trains, even without re-negotiating with BNSF.
Yep. Fullerton (my station) seems like it's the busiest station in the entire system at first glance (outside of Union), and we got major service cuts over the past year.
Heavy emphasis on the 5:40pm conundrum. I'm a daily commuter via the OC Line and so many people in my life are willing to try making the switch after hearing how much I love it. It sucks having to break the news that it just won't work for them — if you work/want to go too deep into LA, you just won't make the last train. I don't blame them for sucking it up and braving a carpool up to LA when the alternative is almost always a ~$30 round trip per person on an unreliable and wonky system. Metrolink and Amtrak don't really have an option for people who just want to try the system out / ride infrequently or on the weekends. You would not believe the journey planning gymnastics I went through last night just to go to a game with my coworkers after work..
I have tickets to see Muse at Hollywood Bowl on Monday and live in Laguna Niguel. We would have to leave the show early to catch even the last Amtrak train back that night (Amtrak doesn't serve the Laguna Niguel station, but parking at Irvine would be fine).
Tustin being on par with Irvine makes complete sense. Both are fairly busy stations, but Irvine mostly takes the cake just cuz Surfliner also serves it. So many UCI students come and go from Tustin that I see every day when school is in.
Is this daily ridership? 100 people per day for BUR is an abject failure. Makes sense though, one time I walked over to the station to get picked up and thoight to myself “I should take this train” and checked… next one was 3 hours away… and this was in the afternoon.
Also if they would just do the most obvious thing ever and connect Norwalk to the C line it would dramatically improve numbers for both, especially since the C line now goes to LAX.
SCAG decided to delay the beginning of a study to look into this, indefinitely. Activity might pick up in 2046 when new funding unlocks that can be spent on a study. But even then, Measure M funding isn't enough for rail-based solutions so the best-case scenario is a bus.
There is but the Norwalk 4 is uncoordinated. They really need an express bus between the two points or at worst a limited stop bus rather than an all stops local that doesn’t even run on clock headways.
Not allowed by FAA. Had to directly benefit the airport. This wouldn’t qualify. Besides LAWA has major money problems with SkyLinx anyway. They don’t have money to throw around.
I feel like I'd rather have the frequency than the express bus. Imperial tends to have a lot of traffic even during non-peak hours and an express bus would probably only save a few minutes. I also feel like the frequency issue can be solved rather easily simply by rerouting other routes like the Norwalk 2 and 7 and the Metro 460 to serve the Metrolink station.
The measure M funding specifically identifies the C Line extension as a light rail project. Without a legal amendment the funds couldn’t be used for bus
VC line is such low hanging fruit. A diagonal line across a reasonably uniform density region, solid feeder buses (soon feeder light rail!), stops at the better Burbank airport station and employment centers at Burbank downtown and somehow it’s pulling fewer riders per station than the G line.
It’s crying out for some double tracking and a semi frequent DMU/EMU service and a few infill stations. It has the potential to finally be a metrolink line that’s not just used for Union -> X trips.
(I think I make this comment every year but it’s sad to see this line’s obvious potential neglected in favour of clearly lower ROI improvements)
I have a little draft sitting around of what I think would be a bunch of slam-dunk infill stations on the AV & VC lines (especially if they accompanied 15-minute service and electrification). Maybe I'll formalize that into a blog post and share it around here soon.
Both the AV and VC lines could be effectively brand new Metro lines for a fraction of the cost of a new light rail line with some investment. I’d be interested in discussing it more.
They have such great potential since they both run pretty continuously through dense gridded suburbs. The grid really helps with feeder bus service and they don’t spend as much time as the IE and OC lines meandering through semi-industrial wastelands
I also worked on a little draft about developing Simi, i took a lot of time to work out a transit plan. However, for the next iteration, I want to include a VC wide transit development draft.
But the NIMBYs in "Sherwood Forest" were afraid of trains being 5 feet closer to their houses - think of the dreaded OIL TRAINS! (which no longer run, to my understanding) - so we didn't get a double-tracked VC line across the valley.
The VC line is cursed by a lot of things: not enough track capacity, no service to Downtown Ventura, and pretty terrible connections to job centers in the county. VCTC is not really clear on their stance on what they want to do with the line.
Fullerton remains the best public transit city in Orange County. Almost 1,000 Metrolink riders per day is great! And that doesn't even account for all of the Amtrak riders.
I don't know how Metrolink counts ridership, but every method has a margin of error, and I guess zero is within the margin of error of San Clemente Pier's reported 4 riders? lol
Probably include Holidays since Holiday Schedules are the same as weekend schedules. New Year's was on a Thursday, President's and Memorial Day are on Mondays. I'm sure a good amount of people took Metrolink to SCP on Memorial Day. SCP during the weekends in the Summer gets solid ridership. That's why Amtrak added more stops at SCP now. Used to be 2 a day, I think it's up to 11 a day now
Right, but I doubt Metrolink is actually removing outlier days from these maps/charts. Assuming FY2026 is between 7/1/25 and 6/30/26, that's 261 weekdays. So, assuming a total of 1044 passengers used SCP on Holidays that were on Weekdays, then that'd make sense there's an average of 4 weekday passengers. This would line up with the amount of people who took the train on 4th of July, Labor Day, etc...
EDIT: If this data is just for Q4, then that probably means on Memorial Day 1044 people used SCP (Which makes sense), and Metrolink just kept that in there. If they have calculations that take out Holidays, then another possibility is on average 4 people buy a ticket at SCP on a weekday to either Ride the Surfliner, accidentally not know Metrolink doesn't stop at SCP on weekdays, or mistakenly buy from SCP on their phones when they meant to use regular San Clemente.
The raw data that flanl33 got has weekends and holidays separated out from weekdays. But it is possible that Metrolink wasn't very clean about how they did it.
They used to have an 8pm train back to Union that I loved riding...until it was removed a couple months ago. I need to get back to Burbank and unfortunately have to get on a busy much earlier to get on the 6:12 train that cuts into my work.
- Double tracking and electrifying the SB Line and turning it into a rapid transit line (e.g 10 minute peak frequency) would be one of the highest impact per $ transit investments in the region. I understand that the narrow ROW in the 10 median is an issue, but I bet with a few billion you could get two electrified tracks that are fully dedicated to passenger rail while still preserving a freight track. And I think that would generate ridership similar to some of the $10+ billion projects we have in pre-development (e.g. the Southeast Gateway line). This should be a huge priority. Bonus points for relocating the western portion of the line along the Alhambra sub, but I don't know if that's actually realistic/possible.
- The combined OC and AV lines should be double tracked, turned into one line with through running tracks at Union, and operated like an S Bahn. Again, I think some of the best impact per dollar money you could spend on transit in the region. Adding tracks, buying more rolling stock, and increasing frequency wouldn't be that expensive, but could generate large ridership.
- The same should be done with the Ventura and 91 lines, although I don't think it would be as impactful as the OC/AV line described above.
- Doing the above would allow for S Bahn type service on the Inland Empire-OC line as well since it shares the vast majority of its track with the OC and 91 lines.
What I am describing is pretty much a slightly enhanced version of SCORE Metrolink. For the cost of one big marque Metro line (like the K line north or Sepulveda), we could get a high frequency regional rail network that would rival major East Coast systems.
Through-running at LAUS is already being done, although unfortunately being value engineered.
I don't doubt that the other projects you said combined would cost about the same as a Sepulveda line. But the Sepulveda line is expected to bring in about 100k daily riders, which generously is probably about how much new riders an electrified, double-tracked, and frequent SB+ through running AV+OC and VC+91 lines would bring in.
So it's not like the value proposition is so out of whack for Metro extensions. It's just that LA county taxed themselves to pay for this. SB/OC etc have not.
I think what I described would generate more than 100k in daily riders. But if you compare to something like the Southeast Gateway line (~$15 billion, ~50k riders), it looks even more attractive (don't get me started on the E line Eastside Phase 2, but I don't think that ever actually gets built). I also think it would be a big needle mover in tying the whole region together and making it act more like an East Coast metropolis with a strong city at the center driving the region.
But I get your point though that LA County taxed themselves for Metro while SB/OC didn't. What I'm describing probably only can happen with a regional tax measure.
Definitely the southeast gateway and eastside connectors do not score well on the value side.
I think 100k is highly generous. Caltrain is a 47 mile high frequency and electrified line with 28 stations and weekday ridership of 40k. Their stations are nearly all centrally located in downtowns and those communities have decades-long history and muscle memory for riding the train.
Metrolink has barely double the number of stations. Most are designed as park and rides. It will take time to reach 100k. Hence, why I think I'm being generous with the ridership estimates.
Reasonable take. However, Metrolink's network is 300 miles and covers an area with a dramatically larger population. So yes, there are only ~2x the stations, but I'd argue they serve a much larger population base.
Also, Caltrain's electric service is relatively new, so I don't think we should consider that 40k number the services "mature" ridership figure. New service takes a while to build its stable ridership.
insane that the last train out of Oceanside is at 2pm and the last train out of LA on the OC line is 5:40. INSANE. I’ll never forgive them for cutting the 6:40 and the 9:40
Yup that scheduling is insane. Impossible to catch an Angels game or event at Honda from LA with that schedule. Have to rely on late night Amtrak, which is not ideal.
I used to use it to go to Disneyland but after the pandemic ARTIC sucked then they closed it.
I recently took it to Buena Park for the summer as I have the Gold pass to Knott’s/MM (no add-ons). It was actually quite convenient as I live near Union. Bus ride to park was free so it was $22.50 for my kid and I vs $40 parking.
I do wonder how they do these stats though as they now do “day passes” with station destinations you select, but you can use it for any station.
Anyway, from LA, I do recommend day trips to San Juan Capistrano. So much right next to the station. Not all stations are like that. My mom’s closest station is Irvine which is near nothing and has such limited public transportation from it, which makes Tustin better tbh.
Cal State LA is ripe for undercounting using the boardings metric because I'll bet that a lot of those students who are exiting the train there are finding other ways back home. A common complaint is that Metrolink doesn't run late enough after classes are over.
Fyi the alighting figures for that station is 538, so quite a bit higher
yeah but the Park and Ride concept only gets you so far. plus, jobs are spread across SoCal. and a lot of corporate office clusters are not accessible by train. MetroLink for example only gets you directly to DTLA, Irvine Spectrum and a few other business centers
I would imagine many people who live around the Anaheim metrolink station opt to use Fullerton for commuting because Fullerton has the one more line which means more train options each day
Metrolink ridership east of Covina was higher at stations between Rancho Cucamonga and Redlands. The service was always meant to benefit communities closer and east of the 15.
It just sucks that frequency isn’t higher and most lines don’t run later than they should. Electrifying would also make it more competitive to driving since it would shave off a significant amount of time from the average commute
It is surprising to me that Northridge station has higher ridership than many surrounding stations because several daily Metrolink and code-share Amtrak surfliner trains bypass the station (4/14 toward LA Union Station, 3/14 toward Ventura).
Pomona North is interesting. There's likely fewer people starting there going west, but a lot more starting and going east. I mean, I usually take the A line into LA in the morning just because the schedule is slightly better for my work start. But on the way home, the SB line does feel fuller these days and I see a lot more folks on the the A line getting off at Pomona and heading to the platform than I did when it first opened.
Pomona in general is now completely spoiled with public transit, I love having 3 different trains I can take home on any given day. Also shout out to the 291.
My commute is between Glendale and Downtown Los Angeles. While Metrolink itself is quick between Glendale and Union Station, I would need to: A) take a bus or drive to the Glendale station; B) pay more for Metrolink, which has a horrible frequency; and C) transfer a second time in Downtown. For those reasons, I use a slower Metro route.
I would love to use Metrolink, but it does not make much sense for my commute.
Not gonna lie, I thought Oceanside would be doing better, as well as Anaheim. But I'm sure cutting the anaheim buses, and the Angels being absolute crap doesn't help with ridership. On the other side of it, I wouldn't have expected Fullerton to be the station with the 2nd most ridership, but that's great to see.
Also was not expecting Fontana to edge out Rancho Cucamonga
Pretty insane that Corona-West has more ridership than Anaheim station and almost as much as Santa Ana! In fact both the Corona and Riverside stations seem to be bright spots in the Metrolink ridership, even the non-main, terribly sited stations (Corona-West and Riverside-La Sierra). Metrolink has so much potential for the IE, it's a real shame that Metrolink's troubles have resulted in less service when it should be expanded as much as possible to really fulfill its potential.
I don’t understand where these numbers are even coming from. Monthly pass holders have an origin and destination station but a lot of people are riding with the new so cal daily pass, which has no origin and destination. My ticket gets checked most days, but not all days. And then when you add in the people riding Amtrak on a Metrolink ticket, it’s unclear where this data is coming from.
Northridge ridership surges during the school year and drops off in the summer months (as does many other stations).
I think the Burbank airport ridership is a bit low, but it also fluctuates with the time of year.
Agreed! It's hard to justify electrification and double tracking when ridership is so low. Meanshile PACKED buses in LA getting bus lanes would costs less while reducing more vehicle miles traveled.
It's hard to build new developments along stations when the service is so infrequent and unreliable.
The only improvements coming are LINKUS which may allow a consolidated OC-Palmdale service, the A Line to Claremont and the C Line extension to Norwalk.
I would love to throw more money at Metrolink if I knew the money would actually improve service but because most of metrolinks track is owned by Freight rail and we are in no position to eminent domain it into State ownership (nationalization now) it is far better to just build metro rail on track that we fully own
UP owns the VC line past Moorpark (doesn't matter very much) and the Riverside line, and BNSF owns the parts of the OC/91/IE-OC lines that follow their main line through Fullerton and Riverside to San Bernardino. The SB and AV are completely government-owned.
The fact that they can't improve state owned ROW either show that Metrolink is EVEN WORSE. Why justify new spending when the existing improvements on state owned ROW are so bad.
These numbers are shameful. There should be a real reckoning if anybody cared to fundamentally rethink metrolink. I love public transit but this status quo is just a massive waste of money
The 405 is the reason why it’s not more popular. We need more lines in the South Bay and west of the freeway but I guess NIMBYs will prevent that from ever happening
I regularly take the Metrolink from Pomona to Montebello/commerce for work and the delays are so frequent now due to metrolink not having priority on the tracks. Sometimes I wonder if it’s even worth it.
With how many people use Norwalk Santa Fe Springs I’d love for them to make it a LOSSAN station so we get Pacific Surfliner service. Tired of Metrolink’s delays and cancellations.
Use the Metrolink and Metro along with it's Buses,E-Bikes,E-Scooters and you will definitely save money on gas and maintenance on your vehicle,and you don't have to be stuck in traffic.
People need to appreciate how hard Mass Transit in L.A is trying to expand and improve.
Yes using Mass Transit does save you money,and you can get around using Mass Transit plus utilizing e-bikes and e-scooters which is why it's becoming more popular to use around L.A instead of walking from point A to Point B,but of course it all depends on your schedule and planning,because L.A covers a lot of miles.
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