Image for December 2024 Piece

By Darren Kettle

This fall, Metrolink introduced historic schedule changes as part of our long-term evolution to a regional rail model — a progression I like to refer to as “Metrolink Reimagined.” We added 32 weekday trains, a 23% increase in service designed to make Metrolink more accessible and convenient for the many customers who need travel options outside the typical 9-to-5 commuting windows. We’ve also improved connections between our seven lines, opening new possibilities for our riders, and we adopted a “pulse” or “clock-faced” schedule. Now, in most cases, trains depart from each station at the same minute mark throughout the day, making our schedule easier to understand for both current and future riders. 

Despite months of planning, modeling and preparation, some of these changes did not work exactly as designed when introduced in a real-world railroad operating environment. As a result, many customers have experienced unacceptable delays and disruptions. In the case of our San Bernardino Line, we had good intentions; our plan was to run more trains on our most popular line. What we have learned, however, is that we simply do not have enough track capacity to operate the level of service we aspired to. 

On several other lines, challenges with the freight rail operators that own and dispatch some of the highest-volume segments of our system have created significant disruptions that have led to a poor customer experience. In October and November alone, the San Bernardino Subdivision, which is owned by BNSF Railway, saw nearly 10,500 minutes of delays and 11 train cancellations affecting passengers on our Orange County, Inland Empire-Orange County and 91/Perris Valley lines. 

Our riders count on us to get them to their destination safely and on schedule, and these delays have real-life consequences. As a regular Metrolink user myself, I have experienced the effects of these issues first-hand, and I share the frustrations of many of the customers I have spoken with. As CEO, I want to assure our riders that we are committed to improving our performance in the weeks and months to come and are taking tangible steps. We are making updates to our new schedule that should reduce the occurrence of delays, and we are working tirelessly with the region’s freight railroads, BNSF and Union Pacific, to find solutions that will deliver meaningful relief. 

In the month of December, we have seen improvement from BNSF, which has hired several former dispatching managers to coach their current, less-experienced San Bernardino Subdivision dispatchers. Also, earlier this month, I – along with the CEOs of the county transportation agencies affected by BNSF rail operations – sent a letter to BNSF CEO Katie Farmer. Her team responded the same day, and I have since spoken directly with her at length about finding both immediate and long-term solutions so that they can meet their contractual obligations to dispatch Metrolink trains on time. 

At Metrolink, we believe in holding ourselves accountable. We are one of the very few transit agencies in the country to commit to a Quality Service Pledge (QSP), which promises customers that if a service disruption occurs, we will do everything we can to get them to their destination. As part of our QSP, when delays caused by Metrolink cause on-time performance to fall below 85% in a month, we provide a 25% discount on Monthly Passes on that line for a future month.  

We regret that recurring delays on the San Bernardino Line have caused our performance to drop below the 85% threshold, but we know that frustration has not been limited to just one line. That’s why, with the support of our member agencies, we are going beyond our existing policy and will be offering a 25% Monthly Pass discount to all Metrolink customers systemwide for January and February of 2025. It’s the right thing to do. This has been a challenging time for our riders, and I want to personally apologize to those impacted. We appreciate your patience as we work to improve our on-time performance and deliver the service you deserve. 

While we are focused on making the necessary adjustments to make “Metrolink Reimagined” a resounding success long-term, I want to take a moment to recognize the progress we’ve made in this short time. Early ridership data has shown that our new schedule is a step in the right direction, delivering some of the results we expected from the beginning. We continue to set new ridership records, including a daily high of 23,999 boardings on Nov. 12 — our single-day, nonpromotional or special-event, post-pandemic record.  

In 2025, we expect to see further growth as service reliability improves and word gets out about the usefulness of our modified schedule. We also plan to restructure our fare products later in the year to better serve our customers by enhancing clarity and decreasing prices. We’ll be launching new technologies to enhance the customer experience, and we’re continuing to invest in infrastructure upgrades to ensure safe and efficient operations. There are more challenges ahead as we prepare to welcome millions of visitors to Southern California for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in less than four years, but we are embracing this opportunity to grow and improve for the communities we serve today and into the future. 

For Metrolink, our customers will always come first. “Metrolink Reimagined” is our effort to deliver the best possible service and experience for our riders. Despite the bumps along the way, we have taken a giant step towards a more mobile, equitable and inclusive future for regional rail in Southern California – and I’m excited to lead this vision and what is next for Metrolink in the years to come.