Countywide : Metrolink Riders Can Buy Passes by Mail

Commuters who ride Metrolink’s Orange County line can now buy monthly passes through the mail, avoiding lines at the station.

In an attempt to make things easier for their customers, Metrolink began the pilot program this week. But those wishing to order their March monthly passes via mail must do so before Feb. 15.

“We’re emphasizing the monthly passes because a recent survey tells us more than three-quarters of our customers in Orange County have monthly passes,” said Peter Hidalgo, a spokesman for Metrolink. “It’s the most popular form of ticket.”

If the program is successful, Metrolink will consider expanding the monthly pass mail order program to the four other existing routes. The prices of the monthly passes will remain the same and continue to allow an unlimited amount of trips per the month.

A monthly pass from Irvine to Los Angeles, the most common trip on the Orange County Line, costs $176.

Brochures with information on how to purchase the monthly passes can be picked up on the train or at one of the eight stops on the Orange County line. They are: San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, Santa Ana, Orange, Anaheim, Fullerton, Commerce and Los Angeles.

The colors of the monthly tickets are also the same: a forest green with the picture of snow-capped mountains in the background. And transfers onto subways and buses that depart from the Los Angeles’ Metrolink station are also built into the mail order passes--just as they are when customers purchase them at a ticket machine.

Information: (800) 371-Link.