BURBANK : Metrolink to Begin Stopping at Airport

Air travelers from as far away as Oxnard and Downtown Los Angeles will soon be able to hop aboard a Metrolink train and stop within feet of Burbank Airport’s terminal entrance.

Under a six-month trial program starting in May, Metrolink trains will make 18 stops a day at an Amtrak station that has served Burbank Airport for more than a year.

It is the first time that Metrolink has offered light-rail service to a regional airport.

“The advantage for the (Southern California) Regional Rail Authority is we’re providing an alternative to get to the airport,” Metrolink spokesman Peter Hidalgo said. “The bottom line is it reduces traffic congestion and air pollution. Serving an airport makes sense.”

Burbank Airport will be just one of 10 stops for Metrolink trains along a 66-mile route from Ventura County to Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, he added.

Amtrak is also expected to continue using the station as a stop on its San Diego and Santa Barbara lines.

Airport spokesman Victor Gill said addition of light-rail service is unrelated to the desire by airport officials to build a larger terminal.

But, he said, “there is a realization that at some point in the future, as rail transit comes of age, there will be a desire for a link between the airport and rail lines adjacent to the airport.”