New Train Stop to Give Commuters an Option

Riding the rails, as opposed to battling the freeways, soon will become an option for some employees in northeast Anaheim.

When the MetroLink train station opens on Aug. 5 in the Anaheim Canyon Business Center, an estimated 160 commuters--mainly from the Inland Empire--are expected to begin riding the trains on weekdays, according to Diana Kotler, transportation programs planner for Anaheim.

City officials expect ridership to increase in coming months as word of the new station spreads among commuters who drive on the often-congested Riverside Freeway.

According to Richard Bruckner, Anaheim’s redevelopment/economic development manager, about 40,000 people work within a five-mile radius of the new station. And this area of Anaheim, he noted, has the biggest potential for industrial job growth in the city.

“There’s a tremendous job base,” Bruckner said.

The $1.2-million station, funded by the city Redevelopment Agency, is under construction at 1039 Pacificenter Drive, west of Tustin Avenue between the Riverside Freeway and La Palma Avenue.

When it opens, the station will become the fourth Orange County stop on a 59-mile line originating in San Bernardino. The other Orange County stations are operating in Orange, Santa Ana and Irvine.

Currently, MetroLink trains on the Inland Empire-Orange County line run twice in the morning and twice in the afternoon on weekdays. Starting Sept. 9, there will be three morning trains and three afternoon trains.

Additional information is available from the city commuter services office at (714) 254-5183 and from the Anaheim Transportation Network at (714) 563-5287.

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All Aboard

When the Anaheim MetroLink station opens Aug. 5, it will be the eighth stop on a 59- mile route between downtown San Bernardino and Irvine. Here’s the complete list of stops along the route:

San Bernardino

Downtown Riverside

La Sierra (Riverside)

West Corona

Anaheim

Orange

Santa Ana

Irvine