COUNTY, RAILROAD IN DISAGREEMENT OVER TRACK ACCESS; METROLINK FEARS LOSS OF RIDERS.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The mighty Union Pacific Railroad has been doing damage control over nationwide shipping delays, yet has an equally nettlesome fight going with Ventura County over track access and improvements that threaten the popularity of Metrolink commuter service.

During its first four years in operation, Metrolink's line from Moorpark and then Oxnard to Union Station in Los Angeles improved on-time performance as it gradually gained priority over freight traffic.

Then Union Pacific merged with Southern Pacific in September 1996. Union Pacific took over dispatching on the track north of Moorpark and began running longer freight trains that no longer fit on many sidings - becoming king of the rails in the eyes of Metrolink officials.

``It is an attitude in the last year that seems to be more oriented to passenger rail being more of a nuisance,'' said Alex Clifford, chairman of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, the five-county agency that operates Metrolink.

The result has been sometimes significant drops in on-time performance - a Metrolink train is late if five minutes behind schedule - on both the Ventura and Riverside county lines. Metrolink officials fear riders will return to their cars.

``We give a service to our customers, and our customers come to us with expectations - and one of those is their need to be on time,'' noted Clifford, who took on Union Pacific at a recent hearing before the federal Surface Transportation Board.

``Freights don't understand this concept of minutes,'' he added. ``They operate within hours. That's on-time performance for them.''

Any conflicts with Metrolink on its Ventura County line mostly are a result of the commuter service getting breaks when Southern Pacific was in control, said spokesman Mike Furtney. One example was allowing the service to be extended from Moorpark to Oxnard following the Northridge Earthquake in January 1994, he said.

``We've given them a very good deal,'' Furtney said. ``We've been very patient.''

Since the Southern Pacific merger, Union Pacific has sought a new agreement with Metrolink that includes both a track maintenance charge and an access fee. The charge, now $6.10 per mile annually, is not at issue.

Fee called inappropriate

There is significant disagreement, however, over the access fee. Southern Pacific never charged one, while Union Pacific is seeking a $433,000 annual fee.

``We just don't think it's appropriate,'' said Ginger Gherardi, the Ventura County Transportation Commission director.

Even if Metrolink agreed to pay an access fee, there is disagreement over how much. While Union Pacific proposes $433,000, Metrolink officials say $58,000 is the right figure.

``Our feeling is that we have been reasonable and have offered what is typical for similar arrangements around the country,'' Furtney said. ``We're only asking them for a fair and reasonable rate of return.''

Gherardi said Union Pacific doesn't take into account the continued track and signaling improvements paid for with federal and state rail funds.

``Our position is we and the state are putting in all these improvements that benefit both services,'' Gherardi said. ``They are getting sufficient remuneration.''

The next round of improvements is mired in the negotiations. Metrolink and the state want to start work in February on automatic signaling and five sidings between Moorpark and northern Santa Barbara County, including extending a siding in Simi Valley to handle longer freight trains and building both a permanent Camarillo station and a siding.

``Right now, some of the sidings are so short that the freight trains stick out into the main line, so that there's no point in putting them there,'' Gherardi said. ``And we expect there will be more freight traffic on the coastline in the next couple of years.''

If the rail conflict isn't resolved, Metrolink officials are concerned that on-time performance will suffer.

Once a major headache on the Ventura County line, on-time performance has improved from 70 percent or so during Metrolink's early operation to the mid-90s. But the on-time rate dipped from 95 percent in October 1996 to 93 percent last month, said Francisco Oaxaca, a Metrolink spokesman.

During the same period, on-time performance on the Riverside County line dropped from 88 percent to 86 percent, reaching a low of less than 70 percent over the summer, Oaxaca said.

``Surprisingly enough, it hasn't hurt our ridership,'' said Bill Davis, a Simi Valley councilman and the county's representative on the Metrolink board.

Ridership increasing

Ventura County's ridership has risen from 2,940 daily in October 1996 to 3,284 last month. Riverside County's ridership increased from 3,747 to 4,087 during the same period, Oaxaca said.

Metrolink also hasn't raised fares since the trains began running in October 1992, with fares based on the length of travel. But that track record could be in jeopardy if Metrolink is forced to pay access fees to Union Pacific.

``They say that their main thing is freight and making a profit for their shareholders,'' said Davis, who has been involved in the talks. ``I don't mind their shareholders making money, but Metrolink trains are out here trying to do a job too, improving air quality and taking cars off the freeway.''

Metrolink officials tried to take advantage of the political heat generated by the freight-train dilemma. Clifford was invited to speak to the Surface Transportation Board during last month's hearing, joining a legion of angry shippers, utility companies and ports.

Later the same week, Metrolink gained a meeting with Jerry Davis, Union Pacific's chief operating officer.

Clifford is returning to Washington, D.C., for a second federal hearing Dec. 3.

``My biggest concern is that in the scheme of the nationwide problems that they're having that passenger rail would fall through the cracks,'' he said.