MTA Approves Railway Connection to SoCal Airports

The Metropolitan Transit Authority unanimously approved Thursday to develop a plan to connect all railways to southern California’s airports.

MTA Chairman and Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich presented his Regional Airport Connectivity Plan during Thursday’s Metro board meeting. The elaborate network of railways would bring passengers on the Gold Line and Orange line buses to Burbank’s Bob Hope Airport, passengers on the Gold Line, Metrolink and Amtrak to Ontario Airport and Metrolink passengers to Palmdale airport. Antonovich also proposed a faster Metrolink service from Palmdale to Union Station, according to LA Curbed.

Antonovich also presented a timeline for the rail connector for the Green and Crenshaw Line to LAX.

“This action will coordinate transfers and changes to service schedules among county transit agencies and improve our regional transportation system by maintaining a seamless, integrated and efficient transit experience connecting the multiple bus and rail agencies that serve the entire County,” said Antonovich in a press statement. 

But the ambitious plan could be threatened by the Los Angeles World Airports, which Antonovich said stands in the way of the plan receiving the voter-approved $200 million from Measure R.

With the Gold Line Foothill extension project still battling to secure funds for its portion from the Azusa/Glendora border to Claremont, and later to Ontario Airport, and Governor Jerry Brown’s push for the state’s high speed rail system to the Bay Area, California rail projects encounter heavy competition for scarce transit dollars.