Van Nuys station
| Company type | Train station |
|---|---|
| Industry | Transportation |
| Founded | 1982 |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California , United States |
| Products | Passenger rail services |
Van Nuys station functions as a train station for both Amtrak and Metrolink, situated in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles, close to Panorama City. It accommodates Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner route (connecting San Luis Obispo and San Diego), the Coast Starlight service (running between Los Angeles and Seattle), as well as Metrolink's Ventura County Line which travels from Los Angeles Union Station to East Ventura.
Initially inaugurated in 1982 under the name Panorama City to serve the brief CalTrain operation, this service was discontinued by 1983. Amtrak reinstated service at this location in 1988, renaming it Van Nuys, and Metrolink began servicing the station in 1992.
History
The diagonal rail line traversing the San Fernando Valley was built in 1904 as a shortcut for the Southern Pacific Coast Line. The original Van Nuys station was positioned further south on the Burbank branch, now the site of the current Van Nuys G Line station.
When CalTrain commenced operations on October 18, 1982, Panorama City station opened concurrently but ceased operations by March 1, 1983. Amtrak resumed service at this former CalTrain location, now called Van Nuys,, on June 26, 1988, extending one San Diegan round trip to Santa Barbara. The Ventura County Line of Metrolink began stopping here on October 26, 1992. A contemporary station building featuring glass and concrete, funded by Caltrans, was unveiled on December 18, 1995.
Originally, the station featured a single side platform adjacent to the southern track among two tracks on the Ventura Subdivision. To the north lies a third track owned by Union Pacific Railroad serving Gemco Yard. In January 2018, construction commenced on an island platform designed to serve both main tracks along with a pedestrian underpass. This island platform replaced an earlier proposal for a second side platform to reduce disruption. The $32 million upgrade, initially expected to be completed by late 2019, officially concluded in January 2020 and represents a significant improvement supporting future transit developments in the Valley.
Future
Plans are underway to expand Van Nuys station to improve transit connections throughout the Valley and greater Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is developing the East San Fernando Valley Light Rail Transit Project, which will run adjacent to this station with a proposed stop near Keswick Street to facilitate transfers between systems. A new island platform located in the median of Van Nuys Boulevard is projected to open by 2031. Additionally, a maintenance and storage facility for this line will be situated nearby.
Van Nuys is also designated as the northern terminal for the forthcoming Sepulveda Transit Corridor, where new subway or elevated platforms are planned for construction starting in 2020.