Construction on the Gold Line's Foothill extension to Azusa and work on the second phase of the Expo Line all the way to Santa Monica are going full steam ahead to meet the lines' anticipated opening dates of early 2016 and late 2015 (respectively), but there's a chance that Metro might not have enough cars ready in time to support the two new lines. Even with the already "aggressive" production schedule that's in place, it's estimated that Metro will be about 50 cars short of what they'd need to run the service that many riders would expect on the lines according to LA County Supe Zev Yaroslavsky's website. All the possible solutions (delayed openings, shorter or less frequent trains, taking cars off other lines) are likely to exasperate riders. They might also frustrate the construction authorities who hustled to stay on schedule for both projects. So what's going to happen if the infrastructure's finished and there aren't enough cars to run on it? A couple construction reps weigh in with doomy predictions:
Expo Construction Authority official: "If these projects are done on time and there are no trains there, the public is going to go nuts."
Foothill Construction Authority official: "It's going to sit there and cobwebs are going to grow until Metro starts service, or they are going to put wimpy service on all the rail lines."
Metro's going to have to think of something, because the train car manufacturer has said that it's not likely that they can speed things up any more.
· Looming train shortage at Metro [Zev Yaroslavsky]
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