It was a busy afternoon at Metrolink’s station in Orange due to a fatal trespasser strike in Santa Ana, which closed the line for over three hours. At 3:39 pm (15:39), Metrolink train 663 (Oceanside to Los Angeles), now running 3 hours behind schedule, is the first of six trains that will pass through the station in the next 40 minutes, all on Metrolink’s Orange Sub’s Track 2 (normally used only for southbound trains). This is a busy line on weekdays, but on this Saturday afternoon it was possible to see two trains at one time twice – once as this train was departing and Amtrak Pacific Surfliner 774, which had been holding in Anaheim for 2 hours and 48 minutes, appeared to the north while it waited for Metrolink 663 to cross over to Track 1. And then there were three more Metrolink trains (one southbound and two northbound, one heading to Los Angeles and the other to San Bernardino) with a northbound Surfliner mixed in. Metrolink did a lousy job of lettering passengers know which platform to be on for their trains. The conductor on this one, train 663, anticipated the confusion, and held his train until everyone waiting on the wrong platform was aboard. But a later train, 665, had a conductor who was closing the doors as passengers were still boarding because, as he told one of them, “We’re already late.” That’s no excuse for stranding passengers who have been waiting longer than normal! (Orange, California – December 11, 2021)
