Van Nuys station is an

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

and Metrolink

train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing s ...

in the Van Nuys neighborhood of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Amtrak's ''

Pacific Surfliner The ''Pacific Surfliner'' is a passenger train service serving the communities on the coast of Southern California between San Diego and San Luis Obispo. The service carried 2,924,117 passengers during fiscal year 2016, a 3.4% increase from F ...

'' from

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly hal ...

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, Amtrak's ''

Coast Starlight The ''Coast Starlight'' is a passenger train operated by Amtrak on the West Coast of the United States between Seattle and Los Angeles via Portland and the San Francisco Bay Area. The train, which has operated continuously since Amtrak's format ...

'' from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...

, and Metrolink's

Ventura County Line The Metrolink Ventura County Line is a commuter rail line serving Ventura County and the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County and the City of Los Angeles, in the Southern California system. The line is the successor of the short lived CalTr ...

from Los Angeles Union Station to East Ventura stop here. Amtrak's ''Coast Starlight'' serves the station with one train daily in each direction. The station when opened the first time in 1982 was called Panorama City, and was served by the short-lived

CalTrain Caltrain (reporting mark JPBX) is a California commuter rail line serving the San Francisco Peninsula and Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley). The southern terminus is in San Jose at Tamien station with weekday rush hour service running as fa ...

service in 1982–83. In 1988, service was restored with the Amtrak '' San Diegan'' with the station renamed as ''Van Nuys'', and Metrolink service began in 1992.

History

The diagonal railway across the San Fernando Valley was built in 1904 as a cutoff for the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Coast Line. At the time the main Van Nuys station was located further south on the Burbank branch, at the modern Van Nuys G Line station. Panorama City station opened with the inauguration of

on October 18, 1982. The short-lived service ended on March 1, 1983. Amtrak service to Van Nuys (the former CalTrain station) began on June 26, 1988, when one '' San Diegan'' round trip was extended to Santa Barbara. Metrolink began

service with a stop at Van Nuys on October 26, 1992. A modern glass-and-concrete Van Nuys station building, funded by Caltrans, opened on December 18, 1995. The station originally had a single

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platform ...

serving the southern track of the two-track Ventura Subdivision. (A third track to the north is part of the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

Gemco Yard. In January 2018, Metrolink began construction of an

island platform An island platform (also center platform, centre platform) is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange. Island platforms are popular on ...

— which serves both main tracks — and a pedestrian underpass. Original plans called for a second side platform instead, but the island platform design had fewer impacts. The project was originally to be completed in late 2019, but was not officially finished until January 2020.

Future

Van Nuys is expected to be expanded in the coming years to provide more connectivity through the Valley and the rest of Los Angeles County. The

Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angel ...

East San Fernando Light Rail Transit Project The East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project (formerly the East San Fernando Valley Transit Corridor Project) is a transit project which proposes the construction of a light rail line on the east side of Los Angeles's San Fernando Va ...

line runs adjacent to the station and the agency is planning a stop near Keswick Street to provide an interchange between systems. A new island platform in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard is expected to open for service in 2028. That line's maintenance and storage facility is additionally planned to be located nearby. This is the northernmost station of the further planned

Sepulveda Pass Transit Corridor The Sepulveda Transit Corridor Project is a two-phased planned transit corridor project that aims to connect the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley through Sepulveda Pass in Los Angeles, California, by supplementing the existing I-405 ...

. new subway or aerial platforms are planned to be built at Van Nuys for the service.

References

External links

Van Nuys, CA – USA Rail Guide (TrainWeb)
{{Amtrak California stations Amtrak stations in Los Angeles County, California Metrolink stations in Los Angeles County, California Public transportation in the San Fernando Valley Van Nuys, Los Angeles Railway stations in the United States opened in 1982 Railway stations closed in 1983 Railway stations in the United States opened in 1988 Future Los Angeles Metro Rail stations 1982 establishments in California 1983 disestablishments in California 1988 establishments in California