Soaring Ridership Prompts More Gold Line Trains Serving Foothill Extension Stations

Metro Gold Line’s Foothill Extension has resulted in such a glut of riders that train schedules couldn’t keep up with the crowds. That’s about to change.

All Gold Line trains will run from Azusa to East Los Angeles with frequencies of every seven minutes during peak hours beginning Monday, June 27, Metro CEO Phil Washington announced Thursday.

To put it lightly, Foothill Extension riders have been requesting this change. Gold Line trains currently run every six minutes between East L.A. and Pasadena during the rush hours but every 12 minutes to the new stations in Arcadia, Monrovia, Duarte, Irwindale and Azusa. That often meant longer waits and more crowded trains for Foothill Extension riders.

The 11.5-mile Gold Line Foothill Extension opened in early March and ridership has exceeded Metro’s expectations. There were an estimated 50,219 boardings on the entire Gold this past April compared to 41,962 boardings in April 2015. The peak hour ridership on the Foothill Extension is already the same as Union Station to East L.A. segment of the Gold Line, which opened in 2009.

The change means that service levels will match demand along the entire 31-mile Gold Line. The change is a one-year pilot program, allowing Metro monitor ridership, on-time performance of trains and customer satisfaction to determine if the change should be made permanent.

Metro staff see the revised schedule as a win-win for customers and operations staff. Among the benefits:

•The schedule will be easier to read and all trains will stop at all stations.

•Passenger loads should be more consistent from train to train and wait times at Union Station will be reduced for Foothill riders.

•No more waiting at the Sierra Madre Villa platform, which sits in the middle of the not unquiet 210 freeway.

•Going from six minute to seven minute headways does not significantly increase the wait time for passengers.

•As more rail cars are delivered, a greater percentage of trains will be longer.