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TheWest Santa Ana Branch is a railright of way formerly used by thePacific Electric's (PE)Santa Ana route inLos Angeles County andOrange County inSouthern California. TheLos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) owns the segment of the right-of-way in Los Angeles County, and theOrange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) owns the segment in Orange County.[1][2]
The line runs from theWatts Towers in the city ofLos Angeles, southeast to the intersection of 4th Street and Santa Ana Boulevard in downtownSanta Ana. A two-mile (3.2 km) portion of it is occupied byInterstate 105 and theC Line. The right-of-way runs nearly straight on a diagonal between the two cities, in contrast to thecardinal grid of Orange County.[citation needed]
The right-of-way was established as aninterurban route for the Pacific Electric Railway. Grading of the route began on September 30, 1904,[3] and service commenced in 1905. The line wasdouble-tracked for its length except for single track bridges. One set of tracks was removed in 1941.[4] Service was truncated to Bellflower in 1950, and finally discontinued in 1958.Southern Pacific continued to use the line for freight. Tracks on 4th Street in Santa Ana were removed in 1955 when connections to the SP line were made in Stanton.[5] ACaltrans survey in 1981 reported that the line had been reduced to a single track railway, which had severallevel crossings removed and was in poor condition.[4] The 12.5-mile (20 km) section in Orange County between Paramount and Stanton was acquired by theSouthern California Regional Rail Authority in 1990 as part of the $450 million package deal withSouthern Pacific (equivalent to $1.08 billion in 2024).[6] TheCentury Freeway and theGreen Line were constructed along a segment inLynwood, opening in 1993 and 1995 respectively. The city of Cypress began the process of removing the sevenlevel crossings in their jurisdiction in 1999.[7]
Pacific Electric Sub-Station No. 14 in Santa Ana was added to the list ofNational Register of Historic Places on September 22, 1983.
TheGhost Town & Calico Railroad attraction atKnott's Berry Farm uses a PEdepot formerly located atHansen station along the ROW inStanton as the main station building. The building was moved to the theme park in 1952.[8][9][10]
TheBellflower station was restored to its opening condition in 2008.
Despite the inactivity of the line, parts of the right-of-way still hold tracks that are in working order. For example, a warehousestub of the San Pedro Branch Rail is located between Garfield Avenue and Rosecrans Avenue. The Paramount Industrial Lead,[11] another branch of the San Pedro Branch Rail, also occupies the right-of-way with a non-gatedlevel crossing at the intersection of Rosecrans Avenue and Paramount Boulevard, a gated crossing at Downey Avenue, and a depot near Somerset Boulevard'sParamount Petroleum plant.
Several disconnected and dilapidated fragments of tracks remain at random intervals throughout the right-of-way.
TheSouthern California Association of Governments (SCAG), in conjunction with Metro and OCTA,[12][13] conducted analternatives analysis to determine the list of all feasible alternatives for the project.[needs update] These alternatives may use all or part of the ROW. Modes under consideration werebus rapid transit,light rail,commuter rail andhigh-speed rail. SCAG organized a first round of public meetings in June 2010. A second round of public meetings were held in November and December 2010.[14] All currently planned projects on the WSAB right-of-way have been various forms oflight rail, including modernstreetcars using light-rail vehicles (LRVs).
Metro has prioritized the corridor on its Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP), and funding for it was guaranteed in the LA CountyMeasure R andMeasure M transportation funding ballot measures.[15][16] As proposed, the light rail line will travel betweenArtesia andUnion Station, using the ROW betweenParamount and Artesia.[17]
As of 2016[update], theOrange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is collaborating with the cities of Santa Ana and Garden Grove to build astreetcar line. The western terminus of the proposed route would follow the Pacific Electric right-of-way near the intersection ofHarbor Boulevard and Westminster Avenue in Garden Grove.[18]
