New rail plan gets support

An ambitious plan to re-establish a passenger-rail line between Santa Clarita and the Ventura coast faces serious hurdles, although all sides agree an alternative is needed to the region's increasingly congested freeways. Patricia Farrell Aidem in the Daily News.

A draft study commissioned in part by the Ventura County Transportation Commission recommends extending the existing east-west Santa Paula line to the north-south railroad that runs through Santa Clarita. There, planners hope to reclaim an abandoned rail corridor through the city's commercial and business hub.

"The most important thing is that we think about it and do some long-range planning so maybe in 30 years, if we start reserving the right-of-way now, we can do something," said Kerry Forsythe, the commission's deputy director.