track was secured over the next
two years from Santa Fe and Union
Pacific railroads.
there never would have been a
Metrolink," recalls Richard Stanger,
Metrolink's first CEO, who along with
Neil Peterson, executive director of
the former LA County Transportation
Commission, and South Bay transit
leader Jacki Bacharach, conceived
and delivered Metrolink.
through the clouds for a brief period,"
Stanger says. He explains state and
local tax resources became available
at a time when Philip Anschutz of
Staples Center fame was eager to
unload Southern Pacific right-of-way.
out against a backdrop of worsening
traffic as the Southland's population
and economy grew, and frustrated
officials for relief.
fellow pioneers envisioned Metrolink
not as inanimate trains but rather
vehicles for bringing people from
all walks of life together on a
destinations. Metrolink would give
them a unique riding experience with
access to jobs and school and other
venues as well as a community of
fellow travelers.
attest to that. They met on the Inland
Empire-Orange County Line in 2012
and married three years later.
Metrolink to stay connected to her
family, riding the train from Northridge
to Corona to visit her niece and baby.
M. Feldstein of Los Angeles how to
crochet and that led to her teaching
The Art of Crocheting at a local
college.
successfully lobbied Metrolink to
permit surfboards on trains so he can
ride to the ocean and catch a wave.
Now he brings his friends.
commuters and others frustrated by traffic.