METROLINK OFFERS CHANCE TO LEARN.

Byline: JAMES BEMIS

I met Dante aboard a Metrolink train on a rainy night last October.

John Milton was introduced to me early one morning between Chatsworth and Northridge.

I became acquainted with Geoffrey Chaucer, whose ancient accent at first intimidated me, in May.

Shakespeare I already knew.

Like 22,000 other Southern Californians, I take the Metrolink train to work each day.

About 3,000 commuters ride the Ventura County line daily, which stops in Oxnard, Camarillo, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Chatsworth, Northridge, Van Nuys, Burbank Airport, Burbank, Glendale and Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. After a while, you have all the stops memorized.

Commuting by train has its advantages. Cost is one. A monthly pass to Los Angeles is $144, less to nearby locations. While not cheap, it still compares favorably with driving. Parking in my building downtown is more than $200 per month. Add in gas, wear and tear on the car (not to mention on the body and mind), and the train looks like a real bargain.

Metrolink also reduces the headaches of commuting. I know I shouldn't, but I still get a perverse thrill when I hear about SigAlerts and massive tie-ups on the freeway as I'm heading for the train. Nobody is tailgating you at 80 mph hour, either.

For dedicated people-watchers, Metrolink is really interesting. There are people who are chronically late, barely catching the train every day, jumping aboard right before the doors close. They sit down red-faced and out of breath, socks in hand, their hair still wet. Some always sit together as a group, for whom one brings chocolate doughnuts on Fridays, and talk nonstop all the way.

Others love to tease the conductors, feeling obliged to say something each time one passes. Romance too can bloom on the train. More than one couple fell in love while commuting.

Travel by train is not without its share of problems, of course. Twice we've had long delays because of bomb threats. Occasionally, mechanical failures occur, causing annoying waits or cancellations. Signal crossing problems are another irritation. Overall, though, service is good. Metrolink reports that 94 percent of the Ventura County trains arrive on time. Count on it being more like 80 percent, but who's complaining?

Most importantly for many, it recaptures two hours of daily driving time, an hour each way, for higher uses. Some people work, some sleep, some talk with friends or with strangers. Some even talk to themselves. Others read the papers or listen to music. Many read books.

I'm among the book readers. Riding the train gives me the opportunity to read many of the classic works of literature I'd never found the time to enjoy. Great books I'd been meaning to read: ``The Divine Comedy,'' ``The Federalist Papers,'' ``Canterbury Tales,'' James Boswell's ``Life of Samuel Johnson'' and others.

I'll always be grateful for this priceless gift of time, which has enabled me to meet some of our wisest and wittiest ancestors. While drivers are listening to Howard Stern, I'm in 11th century Denmark with Hamlet. As some commuters fume, breathing exhaust from another car on a hot day, I'm sitting beneath a tree in Athens with Aristotle as he debates politics. Someone else is caught in the slow lane, behind a 16-wheeler going up the Santa Susana Pass, just as Edmund Burke begins his reflections on the revolution in France.

Right now I'm reading ``Le Morte D'Arthur'' by Sir Thomas Malory, the chronicles of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. If you think President Clinton has trouble with his White House staff, imagine poor King Arthur. Imagine trying to manage 140 armed, brave and lusty knights, one of whom has designs on his wife, the queen?

As for me, I can't wait for the train on Monday morning. You see, I'm on the quest for the Holy Grail with Sir Lancelot and, well, you never know what he's going to run into next.

Riding the train gives me two great opportunities: I'm able to meet my neighbors and get acquainted with my ancestors. Now that's what I call a deal.