COUNCIL DELAYS WARNER CENTER METROLINK PLAN.

Byline: Patrick McGreevy Daily News Staff Writer

The Los Angeles City Council stalled a proposal Wednesday by Councilman Hal Bernson to have Metrolink officials study running passenger trains between Warner Center and North Hollywood.

Beyond the troublesome politics posed by the proposal, some council members feared endorsing such a study might derail a competing plan by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to begin construction of an east-west Metro Rail line by 2007.

The council sent the question to its Transportation Committee.

Bernson, who doubts the troubled MTA can deliver a subway, demanded that the committee chairman, Nate Holden, speed a review ``unless you just want to say `To hell with the Valley.' ''

Bernson is a member of the board of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority (SCRRA), which runs an extensive system of Metrolink commuter trains on railroad tracks throughout Southern California.

He said Metrolink could have a train running in a few years for a fraction of the $350 million-a-mile cost of building a Metro Rail subway system from North Hollywood to Van Nuys.

``You are never going to get your subway through the Valley,'' Bernson told the council. ``There are some alternatives. We're talking about whether we (turn to) an agency who has a great success rate in dealing with transportation problems and potentially can give us transportation in the south end of the Valley . . . and do it in a reasonable period of time so that some of our children might see it.''

But Holden said studying the running of Metrolink commuter trains on existing rail right of way along the Burbank-Chandler route could send mixed signals to the MTA a day after the council approved an agreement with the agency.

``I just want to make sure we make every effort not to sandbag what we did yesterday,'' Holden said, adding he may not be able to complete his review of the issue in the 30 days requested by Bernson because it may require public hearings.

The council voted 11-0 Tuesday to transfer $58 million of $200 million in city transit tax funds to the MTA on assurances the agency would begin building the east-west line by 2007.

The agreement allows the city to withhold funding if construction milestones are not met.

On Wednesday, the MTA board grudgingly approved the deal to ensure a unified front as Congress considers its funding request for this year.

``The agreement is as good as we could have gotten,'' said outgoing MTA Chairman Larry Zarian. ``When I look at the whole picture, I'm concerned about what it could have meant for the agency if it didn't pass.''

The only opposing votes were county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and the alternate for Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Robert Abernethy. Antonovich said he wanted the city to have a firm funding commitment for the east-west line.

In directing Bernson's proposal to committee, Holden said the idea of having Metrolink running trains at grade could draw new objections from residents along the Burbank-Chandler route, and might jeopardize federal funds available for the MTA's subway project.

``You are going to run into trouble at grade level,'' Holden warned his colleagues.

However, Bernson said Metrolink could build a rail line with some below-grade dips in neighborhoods concerned about the noise.

The councilman said alternatives that he wants studied would create a Metrolink train system that runs on existing rail right of way mostly along Victory Boulevard from Sepulveda Boulevard to Warner Center.

The SCRRA also already owns railroad tracks along Canoga Avenue between its Chatsworth Metrolink station and Warner Center.

Francine Oschin, Bernson's transportation deputy, said for $2 million a mile, the agency could upgrade that track for use by transit trains in one or two years.

In addition, the system might be connected to a new rail line currently under study by the SCRRA between Burbank Airport and downtown Los Angeles, according to Steve Lantz, the MTA's director of metro system integration.