Valley residents demand rail service, express doubts

Faced with growing demand for Amtrak passenger rail service in the Coachella Valley, the Riverside County Transportation Commission asked residents for feedback Thursday evening in Palm Desert on a plan to increase lines to Los Angeles.

Travel to and from the valley accounts for 40 percent of weekday traffic on the rail system, said consultant James Douglas with engineering firm HDR, Inc., and weekday travel to the Los Angeles basin is expected to increase 44 percent by 2035 to about 200,000 passengers a day.

Stations in Indio, the mid-valley near Rancho Mirage and the Banning Pass are being considered — as are four private railroad routes west of Colton — with railway officials estimating the project will take seven years to finish.

“I don’t like how long it’s going to take,” said Bernadine Styburski, 73, from Indian Wells. “I have to wait for a bus in La Quinta and take that to Fullerton, where I wait 20 minutes for the Metrolink into Los Angeles.”

More riders seeking environmentally friendly travel — coupled with valley population growth and planning for incidents on Interstate 10 that shut the highway down — equal a need for more service, Douglas said.

Amtrak has federal permission to run on private railroads, with the stipulation that it works out rail improvements with the railroads so it doesn’t affect their freight operations.

“Until we know if we have a viable project with enough ridership and do a cost-benefit analysis, we’re not in a position to negotiate with the railroad companies,” said Sheldon Peterson, RCTC rail manager.

“Where Amtrak has been successful partnering in the past is when there are incentive payments and usage fees encouraging railroads to operate the trains on time.”

The project remains in the initial planning phase, with the next step the two-year creation of a service development plan and conceptual engineering.

Funding doesn’t currently exist for the project, Peterson said.

“I know freight lines have doubled. I watch the trains ride bumper-to-bumper under the Indian Canyon overpass,” said Sandy Clark, 58, from Palm Springs. “I don’t know what they’re going to do about it, but I really want a passenger train.”

Clark drives to San Bernardino and takes the Metrolink into Los Angeles, where her second car waits for her to drive to her film industry job daily. The trip takes three hours both ways.

Bob Terry with activist group People Over Pollution shared Clark’s concern that freight interests could derail increased passenger train service — arguing Questar Corporation’s plan to reopen an oil pipeline from the valley to Los Angeles, which may require two trains a day, would make rail traffic too great.

“If that plan is prioritized, it’s a disaster for the valley, our water and our air,” Terry said.

Peterson said he’d “heard a little bit” about Questar’s plan but nothing formal, adding RCTC’s goal would be to minimize their passing sidings if the pipeline is reopened.

Amtrak trains traveling from New Orleans to Los Angeles stop in Palm Springs, but people have suggested improving and increasing departure times for decades.

Bob Treacy, 86, from Palm Desert frequents the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles with his wife. To get there they drive to San Bernardino and take the Metrolink into the city — costing them an extra hour-and-a-half.

“I’d rather do it by train,” Treacy said. “Somebody’s got to benefit from this, even if it isn’t me.”