The 91/Perris Valley Line, formerly known as the 91 Line, is a

commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting commuters to a central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter rail systems are con ...

route operated by Metrolink that runs from

Los Angeles 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 ...

Perris Perris is an old railway city in Riverside County, California, United States, located east-southeast of Los Angeles and north of San Diego. It is known for Lake Perris, an artificial lake, skydiving, and its sunny dry climate. Perris is w ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

, paralleling State Route 91 between Riverside and

Santa Fe Springs Santa Fe Springs (''Santa Fe'', Spanish for "Holy Faith") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the Gateway Cities of southeast Los Angeles County. The population was 16,223 at the 2010 census, down from 17,43 ...

. Operating since May 2002, the route runs on the

Southern Transcon The Southern Transcon is a main line of BNSF Railway comprising 11 subdivisions between Southern California and Chicago, Illinois. Completed in its current alignment in 1908 by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, when it opened the Belen C ...

line owned by

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

, as well as the

Riverside County Transportation Commission The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) is the County Transportation Commission (a subdivision of the six-county Southern California Association of Governments metropolitan planning organization) for Riverside County, California, Un ...

-owned San Jacinto Branch Line. Services are primarily operated along the entire route between

Union Station A union station (also known as a union terminal, a joint station in Europe, and a joint-use station in Japan) is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway companies, allowing passengers to ...

and South Perris while some trips use

Downtown Riverside Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire and i ...

as a terminus.

History

Service on the 91 Line began on May 6, 2002, between Union Station and Riverside–Downtown. Metrolink began operating limited weekend service on the 91 Line in July 2014.

Extension

The Perris Valley Line is a 24-mile-long extension of the original 91 Line into the Perris Valley. The extension runs on the San Jacinto Branch Line, which parallels Interstate 215. The

(RCTC) purchased the

BNSF BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

San Jacinto Branch Line in 1993, soon after Metrolink began operating. Planning for the extension formally began in 2002. After studying the service alternatives available for the Perris Valley, RCTC selected

service in 2004. The

Federal Transit Administration The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) is an agency within the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) that provides financial and technical assistance to local public transportation systems. The FTA is one of ten modal administratio ...

provided funding for the extension in 2007. In 2009, both the Federal Transit Administration and RCTC decided to conduct further studies into the project. The Federal Transit Administration decided to require a Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) to refresh the 2004 information and to obtain new public comment. RCTC had decided to prepare a full draft environmental impact report (EIR) to clarify concerns and address new station site options. The draft EIR was released for public comment on April 5, 2010, with the public comment period closing on May 24, 2010. The draft SEA was completed and the comment period for the SEA ended on January 6, 2011. As of October 2012, comments received on both the EIR and the SEA were under review. Seven stations were originally planned by RCTC—five to open along with the extension, and two to be built in the future. In the April 2010

CEQA The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a California statute passed in 1970 and signed in to law by then-Governor Ronald Reagan, shortly after the United States federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), t ...

-mandated environmental impact report, three stations were dropped: the two future stations, one on the Cajalco Expressway near its junction with Interstate 215 in

and one in Box Springs within Riverside; and a station adjacent to

UC Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. Th ...

, which was removed due to complaints by local residents. In response to these removals, RCTC officials stated that more stations could be built in the future if necessary. A local community group filed a

lawsuit against the extension in 2011; the group and RCTC settled the suit in 2013. Led by RCTC, construction on the extension began in October 2013. Originally planned to start in December 2015, public service on the extension was delayed to February 2016, then March 2016, then scheduled for sometime in the spring. The delay had been attributed to construction of the South Perris station. After numerous delays, the extension opened June 6, 2016. Metrolink inconsistently uses the terms "91/Perris Valley Line" and "91 Line" to refer to both the extension and the entire rail line. The extension was projected to cost $248 million with funding coming from the state, a $75 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration, and Measure A, Riverside County's special sales tax for transportation projects.

Future development

In 2005, an RCTC-commissioned study determined that extending the line to San Jacinto via an underused rail line owned by RCTC, and/or to Temecula via a brand-new trackage, would be feasible. Construction of an infill station in Placentia is planned, but has been delayed due to a lack of cooperation from

, who owns the right-of-way.

Stations

There are twelve (thirteen planned) stations on the 91 Line: The stations at West Corona, North Main Corona, Riverside-La Sierra, and Riverside-Downtown are also served by the Inland Empire-Orange County Line; the station at Riverside-Downtown is also served by the

Riverside Line Metrolink's Riverside Line is a commuter rail line running from Los Angeles Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles to Riverside along the Union Pacific Railroad. It runs weekday peak commuter hours only, with very little midday and reverse com ...

. Although the 91 Line follows the same route through

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the List of the most populous counties in the United States, most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, ...

as the

Orange County Line The Orange County Line is a commuter rail line run by Metrolink from Los Angeles through Orange County to Oceanside in San Diego County, connecting with the Coaster commuter rail service to San Diego. The Orange County Line carries passenger ...

, the 91 Line does not stop at the

Commerce station Commerce station is a Metrolink rail station in the city of Commerce, California. It is served by Metrolink's Orange County Line running from Los Angeles Union Station to Oceanside. The Metrolink 91 Line from Los Angeles Union Station to Riv ...

References

External links

91 Line Schedule
*
Perris Valley Line
at the Metrolink website
Perris Valley Line extension project website
{{Metrolink (Southern California) Metrolink (California) lines Public transportation in Los Angeles County, California Public transportation in Orange County, California Public transportation in Riverside County, California Transportation in the Inland Empire Transportation in Corona, California Transportation in Fullerton, California Transportation in Riverside, California Buena Park, California Norwalk, California Santa Fe Springs, California Perris, California Railway lines opened in 2002 2002 establishments in California Railway lines opened in 2016 2016 establishments in California Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway lines