Expanded rail service to Santa Barbara nears April pilot launch

Expanded rail service to Santa Barbara is back on the agenda after a long stretch of delays, with local agencies now lining up a weekday Amtrak option aimed at rush-hour commuters and potentially starting as early as April.

This is reported by the railway transport news portal Railway Supply.

The Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) advanced the proposal at its Jan. 15 meeting, voting unanimously to keep the plan moving, as described in an Expanded Peak-hour Intercity Rail Service Update from SBCAG. A final vote is expected in February. Similar approvals are anticipated from the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) and the Los Angeles–San Diego–San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency (LOSSAN), which oversees Amtrak’s Pacific Surfliner service.

Before the Ventura to Santa Barbara commuter rail service can begin, the plan still depends on final state approval and an updated track-use agreement with Union Pacific Railroad, which owns the rail line. If those steps are completed, officials say the service would run as a one-year pilot program, with the aim of making it permanent.

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Schedule and stops for the Pacific Surfliner expansion

The proposed northbound train would depart Los Angeles Union Station daily at 5:13 a.m. and reach Moorpark at 6:31 a.m. It would then continue through Camarillo, Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria, Santa Barbara and Goleta, arriving in San Luis Obispo at 10:53 a.m. The southbound return would leave San Luis Obispo at 12:12 p.m. and arrive back in Los Angeles by 5:50 p.m. The trip from downtown Ventura to downtown Santa Barbara is estimated at about 45 minutes, as outlined in the Simi Valley Acorn report.

Fares, ticket options, and Coastal Express connections

Standard Amtrak fares would apply to the Amtrak weekday trains, including a $17 one-way ticket between Ventura and Santa Barbara. SBCAG also plans 10-ride ticket packages priced at $50, which brings the cost to about $5 per trip for regular riders.

Train tickets would also be valid on VCTC’s Coastal Express bus, currently the only public transit option between Ventura County and Santa Barbara County. Riders could take the train in the morning and use the same ticket on the bus for the return trip, if that works better for them.

Transportation planners estimate the pilot service would cost about $2.3 million for one year, with SBCAG and VCTC splitting the expense. They point to demand that remains strong, citing a 2022 SBCAG survey estimating about 11,100 Ventura County residents commute to Santa Barbara County on an average weekday.

Officials say the Oxnard-to-Goleta corridor is especially promising for easing congestion as the final phase of Highway 101 widening between Carpinteria and Santa Barbara continues.

Why the Ventura–Santa Barbara morning service has been delayed?

LOSSAN’s Pacific Surfliner runs five daily round trips between Goleta and Los Angeles and two daily round trips to San Luis Obispo. Before the pandemic, it operated a morning peak service under contract with SBCAG, but that was suspended in March 2020. Although most trips resumed, the morning service between Ventura and Santa Barbara remains suspended because of funding and equipment shortages.

In the past, SBCAG, VCTC, LOSSAN, and Metrolink explored bringing the service back by having Metrolink temporarily operate trains until LOSSAN received new equipment, pending state funding. But in summer 2025, the effort hit another hurdle: a new rail operating agreement with Union Pacific was required after Metrolink switched its contractor from Amtrak to Alstom—an issue also discussed in Railway Supply’s coverage of the canceled Metrolink proposal and the Surfliner pilot.

Aaron Bonfilio, SBCAG’s director of multimodal programs, called the requirement “a major obstacle.” He said Union Pacific later told LOSSAN that work on the new agreement could not begin until early 2026, effectively halting progress on the Metrolink approach. Bonfilio added that Union Pacific had been “receptive and eager for business,” but said it had other priorities, including its pending merger with Norfolk Southern.

Jason Jewell, managing director of LOSSAN, said the delays forced the agency to change course. He also said that once received, any agreement would still need to be reviewed and negotiated.

Under the updated SBCAG VCTC rail pilot program plan, SBCAG and VCTC would continue temporary funding, but LOSSAN would operate the service directly through Amtrak using existing track agreements with Union Pacific. Jewell said this approach allows the agencies to move more quickly because it requires only administrative approval from Union Pacific rather than a new operating agreement.

Because the Pacific Surfliner is state-supported, final state approval is still required for any Amtrak Pacific Surfliner service expansion. LOSSAN expects the state review to be completed in time to return to SBCAG in February. “We hope that will be positive,” Jewell said. “Ultimately, the state has to sign off on any expansion.”

Bonfilio said SBCAG and VCTC plan coordinated outreach after approvals so riders are ready to use the Ventura to Santa Barbara commuter rail service from day one.

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