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Glendale joins fray for maglev train
City puts money up to be in a 15-member Southland contingent interested in studying new transit option.
By Jason Wells
CITY HALL — Proponents of a $19-billion regional magnetic levitation train found a new ally in Glendale on Tuesday after the City Council narrowly voted to join 14 other Southland cities in their effort to study the project’s feasibility.
Glendale’s seat at the Orangeline Development Authority will cost $61,112 for the current fiscal year, and about $30,000 for every fiscal year thereafter, according to the joint exercise of powers agreement that includes cities from Palmdale to Los Alamitos.
The elevated maglev train’s route would run above 108 miles worth of highway and railroad right-of-ways between Palmdale and Orange County at about 90 mph between each of the projected 18 stations spaced 6 miles apart, according to preliminary plans for the project.
Proponents tout the project as an important step in reducing traffic congestion throughout the Southland’s north-south corridor, despite the high price tag.
“We’ve got to be willing to bite the bullet and get on board eventually,” Councilman Dave Weaver said.
But not everyone was so willing to bite Tuesday.
Councilman Ara Najarian abstained and Councilman Bob Yousefian voted against joining the authority for various reasons, not the least of which were the major development challenges the maglev would likely face in its struggle to become more than just a concept.
Any attempt to secure right-of-way access above railroad corridors from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be difficult considering Glendale had a “heck of a time just to get permission to put some plants” there, said Najarian, who serves on the transit authority’s board of directors.
Metrolink, which is under shared authority with the transportation authority, and underground fiber-optic cable owners heavily protested the city’s landscaping plan for the San Fernando Road corridor along the tracks.
A maglev train above the same rail system that supports Metrolink would also be untenable in terms of competing business interests for the same group of customers, said Najarian, who also represents Metrolink in his position on the authority.
Loyalty to the two county transportation organizations precluded his vote on the issue, he said.
Metrolink has decided to reserve its opinion on the project until it is further along in the planning process and more details about how it might affect the railway system comes to light, spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.
The maglev isn’t even on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s radar in terms of funding or planning, said Marc Littman, spokesman for transit authority.
He pointed to the tens of millions of dollars worth of highway interchanges, railway extensions and carpool lane additions that are part of a long-range master plan, but that lack funding, as likely to receive higher priority with the transportation authority.
State Transportation Commissioner and former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian said the state picture is no different from the regional one.
Major state infrastructure projects, from highway improvements to bridge repairs, are expected to quickly soak up billions of dollars in voter-approved bond money, leaving next to nothing for conceptual mega-projects like a Southland maglev line.
“The problem is the dollars,” he said.
“I don’t see anyone on the state level talking and saying, ‘Let’s put this on the front burner.’”
But proponents argue the maglev train would recoup the projected $19 billion by around 2048 as rider demand increases.
In order to be financially viable, the train would need to capture 5% of the regional market share, or 270,000 riders in 2027, a threshold Orangeline Development Authority Chairman and Downey City Councilman Kirk Cartozian said was a “conservative figure.”
“Ridership is only going to increase over time,” he told the Glendale City Council on Tuesday.
The authority is also pushing a private-public financing effort, in which participating governments and private firms would fund the cost of construction. Private firms have already contributed $1.1 million to the study effort, according to the group.
The locations of the 18 stations have not been settled — an issue that would likely factor in the size of the municipal participants, their position along the proposed route and other logistical and environmental factors, Cartozian added.
Glendale’s ability to influence those decisions as a member of the authority should the maglev come to life was, in addition to the environmental benefits, reason enough to join, Councilman Frank Quintero said.
“I think we need to get onboard and have a say in where it will go and where it will stop,” he said.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
Glendale’s seat at the Orangeline Development Authority will cost $61,112 for the current fiscal year, and about $30,000 for every fiscal year thereafter, according to the joint exercise of powers agreement that includes cities from Palmdale to Los Alamitos.
The elevated maglev train’s route would run above 108 miles worth of highway and railroad right-of-ways between Palmdale and Orange County at about 90 mph between each of the projected 18 stations spaced 6 miles apart, according to preliminary plans for the project.
Proponents tout the project as an important step in reducing traffic congestion throughout the Southland’s north-south corridor, despite the high price tag.
“We’ve got to be willing to bite the bullet and get on board eventually,” Councilman Dave Weaver said.
But not everyone was so willing to bite Tuesday.
Councilman Ara Najarian abstained and Councilman Bob Yousefian voted against joining the authority for various reasons, not the least of which were the major development challenges the maglev would likely face in its struggle to become more than just a concept.
Any attempt to secure right-of-way access above railroad corridors from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority would be difficult considering Glendale had a “heck of a time just to get permission to put some plants” there, said Najarian, who serves on the transit authority’s board of directors.
Metrolink, which is under shared authority with the transportation authority, and underground fiber-optic cable owners heavily protested the city’s landscaping plan for the San Fernando Road corridor along the tracks.
A maglev train above the same rail system that supports Metrolink would also be untenable in terms of competing business interests for the same group of customers, said Najarian, who also represents Metrolink in his position on the authority.
Loyalty to the two county transportation organizations precluded his vote on the issue, he said.
Metrolink has decided to reserve its opinion on the project until it is further along in the planning process and more details about how it might affect the railway system comes to light, spokeswoman Denise Tyrrell said.
The maglev isn’t even on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s radar in terms of funding or planning, said Marc Littman, spokesman for transit authority.
He pointed to the tens of millions of dollars worth of highway interchanges, railway extensions and carpool lane additions that are part of a long-range master plan, but that lack funding, as likely to receive higher priority with the transportation authority.
State Transportation Commissioner and former Glendale Mayor Larry Zarian said the state picture is no different from the regional one.
Major state infrastructure projects, from highway improvements to bridge repairs, are expected to quickly soak up billions of dollars in voter-approved bond money, leaving next to nothing for conceptual mega-projects like a Southland maglev line.
“The problem is the dollars,” he said.
“I don’t see anyone on the state level talking and saying, ‘Let’s put this on the front burner.’”
But proponents argue the maglev train would recoup the projected $19 billion by around 2048 as rider demand increases.
In order to be financially viable, the train would need to capture 5% of the regional market share, or 270,000 riders in 2027, a threshold Orangeline Development Authority Chairman and Downey City Councilman Kirk Cartozian said was a “conservative figure.”
“Ridership is only going to increase over time,” he told the Glendale City Council on Tuesday.
The authority is also pushing a private-public financing effort, in which participating governments and private firms would fund the cost of construction. Private firms have already contributed $1.1 million to the study effort, according to the group.
The locations of the 18 stations have not been settled — an issue that would likely factor in the size of the municipal participants, their position along the proposed route and other logistical and environmental factors, Cartozian added.
Glendale’s ability to influence those decisions as a member of the authority should the maglev come to life was, in addition to the environmental benefits, reason enough to join, Councilman Frank Quintero said.
“I think we need to get onboard and have a say in where it will go and where it will stop,” he said.
JASON WELLS covers City Hall. He may be reached at (818) 637-3235 or by e-mail at jason.wells@latimes.com.
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