Proposed Metrolink train to Santa Barbara canceled, Surfliner steps in

A Proposed Metrolink train to Santa Barbara canceled plan never arrived in 2025, and Santa Barbara County leaders are now weighing a similar idea through Amtrak Pacific Surfliner pilot service.

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

Santa Barbara County Association of Governments (SBCAG) directors heard the update on January 15, after October 2025 passed without the expected northbound and southbound Metrolink trips (Railway Supply).

Why the Metrolink shift stalled?

By summer 2025, SBCAG staffer Aaron Bonfilio said, the LOSSAN rail corridor agency had concluded that moving the service to Metrolink would trigger a fresh set of Union Pacific track agreements with the owner of the route, Union Pacific (UP).

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Bonfilio told directors the earliest UP could start reviewing any agreements would be the first quarter of 2026, because the company was in the middle of buying Norfolk Southern—an acquisition described as connecting UP from the West Coast to the East Coast.

Grant funding and the Pacific Surfliner plan

The delay then carried over into LOSSAN’s planning. The agency had received a Federal Railroad Administration $27 million grant early last January, and LOSSAN managing director Jason Jewell said the money was intended to restore service to pre-COVID pandemic levels (Pacific Surfliner / LOSSAN). Within that broader effort, LOSSAN was also anticipating a train set arriving from Northern California, with rolling stock Jewell said could support a Goleta and San Luis Obispo service extension on the Pacific Surfliner and provide added transportation tied to the World Cup.

Proposed schedules, stops, and fares

Under the current proposal, the northbound train would leave L.A. Union Station at 5:13 a.m. and reach Santa Barbara at 8:11 a.m. The southbound trip would depart San Luis Obispo at 12:12 p.m., pass through Goleta at 2:33 p.m., and arrive in Santa Barbara at 2:57 p.m. Bonfilio said each train would keep the usual intermediate stops, including smaller stations such as Guadalupe.

Subject to LOSSAN approval, the contemplated fares are $150 for a monthly pass and $50 for a 10-ride ticket, described as a subsidized, reduced price. For flexibility, Bonfilio also noted that the tickets may be used aboard the VCTC Coastal Express bus service, which runs regularly between Santa Barbara and Ventura.

Funding and next steps

Jewell said the plan is set up as a one-year pilot project, and that longer-term service would depend on future funding—either through the state budget or Washington, D.C. For the pilot year, Bonfilio said SBCAG and the Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) would contribute a combined $2 million, generally split 50/50. In Santa Barbara County, the money would come from the Measure A transportation sales tax, approved in 2008 by 79 percent of local voters.

Bonfilio cautioned that the concept is not final. State approval is still required, and the final negotiated plan is expected to return to SBCAG in February. Implementation would take a few months, he said, and the program’s future will depend on ridership. A marketing plan aimed at residents and employers is being developed to help build that demand, as outlined in the original report by The Santa Barbara Independent.

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