The dream of a train traversing the Valley is no longer a pigs flying scenario, as Governor Brown signed legislation today permitting light rail throughout the SFV (a 1991 law banned above-ground trains in parts of it). Don't think the Orange Line will have tracks underneath it anytime soon—there's no funding to convert the popular busway into a train line, though it is feasible from an engineering standpoint. While it's debatable how much faster an above-ground train would be (it would have a dedicated lane), light rail trains can carry about 400 people, almost five times as many as a bus—the Orange Line carries about 30,000 people on an average workday and is basically at capacity. An Orange Line conversion to rail would have to wait along with other projects clamoring for money, like the Gold Line extension to Montclair and rail through the Sepulveda Pass. The bill, though, is good news for a proposed train along Van Nuys Boulevard.
· State Could be About to Repeal Ban on Light Rail in the Valley [Curbed LA]
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