There’s an easier and cheaper way to get around the city these days without using you car – and it involves two rails.

With high gas prices, congested freeways and a stagnant economy, trains are becoming an efficient and economical alternate form of transportation for people commuting throughout the southland.

Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego Counties all have extensive rail systems which tie in with other transportation systems making it easy to reach every corner of Southern California.

Metrorail, Metrolink, and Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner are all train systems that cater to commuters and help ease the strain of driving. Metrorail is the lightrail system that covers the majority of Los Angeles County. The trains are lighter and smaller than those of Metrolink and Amtrak making them more efficient and economical to operate than their larger cousins. It is also similar to a bus system as it moves a large number of people for fairly short distances at affordable prices.

Metrorail

According to the Metrorail Web site, fares start at $1.25 with the entire system being run on the honor system. This means that the commuter is expected to purchase tickets from self-service vending machines before boarding. A word of caution, however: The Web site also notes that commuters caught without a ticket may be fined up to $250.

For the Biola traveler, the nearest Metrorail station is the Norwalk Green Line Station located off Imperial Highway, just near the intersection of the 605 and 105 Freeways. The Green Line runs all of the way to Manhattan Beach/El Segundo and intersects with the Blue Line which connects to other lines that link to other parts of the city.

Metrolink

Metrolink is the heavy rail commuter train that moves people longer distances quickly and efficiently. These trains travel along the coast from Oxnard to Oceanside, and even as far east as Lancaster, Riverside and San Bernardino.

Metrolink is a convenient way for Biola students who want to travel longer distances but do not want to drive. These trains may also be a viable option for those commuting anywhere between Oceanside, Riverside, or Oxnard. Many Biola professors take Metrolink to the campus each day. Professor Tamra Welter is one of those commuters and says, “I can’t stand traffic. When I know that I will have to be driving in traffic, I will most definitely be taking the (Metrolink) train.”

Ticket prices for Metrolink vary depending on distance. A visit to the Metrolink website calculated a weekend roundtrip fare between Fullerton and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles at $8.75. The Web site also calculated the same roundtrip by car at $28.14 based on a formula supplied by AAA.
Metrolink fairs can be as inexpensive as a few dollars for a round trip ticket, or as pricy as a couple hundred dollars for a monthly pass.

“When I figured it out, it’s actually cheaper to take the train — and it also saves a lot of wear and tear on my car,” Welter adds.

As a bonus, all Metrolink riders are entitled to a Rail-2-Rail transfer pass. Metrolink describes the Rail-2- Rail program as a cooperative ticket and service program provided by Metrolink, Amtrak and Caltrans that gives each of their riders more options for travel in and around Southern California. This also allows Metrolink monthly pass holders along the Orange and Ventura County corridors to travel on Amtrak Pacific Surfliner trains within the station pairs of their pass. Amtrak Pacific Surfliner ticket holders can ride any Metrolink train between the same station pairs as their Amtrak ticket.

The nearest Metrolink station is located in Buena Park at the corner of Dale and Malvern. It is about a ten minute drive from the Biola campus.

Amtrak

The most geographically expansive transportation system of the group is Amtrak’s Surfliner. The Surfliner runs the length of the California coast, from San Luis Obispo to San Diego and many places in between, and connects with other Amtrak trains that run throughout the country.

Like the Metrolink, tickets vary by distance. The Amtrak ticket calculator on their website calculated a roundtrip fare to San Diego from the Fullerton Train Depot at a little over $40. A roundtrip to Santa Barbara is $52. Using the same AAA comparison calculator, it would cost $88.20 to take the same commute to San Diego by car. This would make a trip by train from the comfort of an air conditioned coach watching the sun set over the Pacific Ocean seem a lot less stressful than bumper-to-bumper traffic on the 405 Freeway at the same time of day.

The Fullerton station, which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992, is located about 15 minutes from the Biola Campus.

Whether it’s the Metrorail, Metrolink or Amtrak Surfliner, traveling by train is a unique adventure that can only be experienced by getting out of a car and riding the rails.