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  • Metrolink/ LATC, improvements

  • Pertaining to all railroad subjects, past and present, in the American West, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and The Dakotas. For specific railroad topics, please see the Fallen Flags and Active Railroads categories.
Pertaining to all railroad subjects, past and present, in the American West, including California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana, and The Dakotas. For specific railroad topics, please see the Fallen Flags and Active Railroads categories.

Moderator: Komachi

 #324543  by pennsy
 
Hi All,

Got a chance to ride Metrolink into Los Angeles yesterday, after the delays due to track improvement were finished. The yard going into LATC, Los Angeles Transit Center, also known as LAUS, was renovated with new CTC switches etc. And, many delays occured to Metrolink, and Amtrak, when the switches to get into LATC had to thrown manually until the new switch machines were installed and checked out.

Well, got into LATC with no problems, in fact faster than before. Sort of weird to see, old (ancient) tracks and brand new switch machines. These were nice and shiny. They worked to perfection, and all went well.

Going home, got some delay in leaving LATC. Seems there were other trains trying to enter the terminal and so we had to wait our turn. Didn't take more than a few minutes, but it did surprise us. I imagine that with time even this will be eliminated. All in all a really fine trip.
 #324644  by Komachi
 
Technically, this should go in the "Commuter and Transit" forum, however, there doesn't seem to be a listing for the Los Angeles transit system.

So, I'll allow it, for now.


Question. When did you make your departing journey? Rush hour? If so, could it be that there was a higher volume of trains trying to enter/leave the terminal? I know when I took the Hiawatha between Milwaukee and Chicago, the morning trains were usually on time, but the afternoon/evening trains were usually held up a minute or two, while the Metra trains shuffled in and out of CUT. Bound to happen every now and then in any large station setting like LA, CUT, GCT (Grand Central Terminal, NYC), etc.

Just my observation.

 #324936  by pennsy
 
Hi Erik,

Correct, it happened during rush hour. Going home was not rush hour, but between Amtrak trains and Metrolink they got backed up. Not very long, but it was noticeable. The lady conductor apoligized for the inconvenience but kept us aware of the situation. That is another point; the Metrolink conductors are outstanding and sensitive to the people that travel with them.

By the way, I have noticed, as I am sure you have, that there has been many a double posting. This is in keeping with the large number of categories available and the fact that many postings can fit into more than one category. This sort of splits the interest and spreads out the responses.