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Award: Improvement of the regional commuter station
Value: 24 million dollars
Location: Perris, California
Customer: Riverside County Transportation Commission
Granite Construction is on track to build a key component of Southern California’s Metrolink regional rail system with an upgrade to an end-of-line station.
Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite won a $24 million contract to transform the Perris South metrolink station and stairwell facility project, according to a December 9 press release.
The goal of the project is to improve service reliability and meet growing ridership demand at Metrolink’s State Line 91/Perris Valley terminus in Riverside County, east of Los Angeles. Funding for the project comes from a combination of local and state sources, including California Measure A sales tax and a state of $25 million Intercity rail and transit capital program grant
Originally opened in 2016, the 24-mile line connects Perris to Downtown Riverside and, from there, to jobs in Los Angeles. It was built to ease traffic on Interstate 215 and improve transit options for residents of Southwestern Riverside County, which has some of the the longest commutes in Southern Californiaaccording to the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
The number of users on the line increased by 22% year over year to an average of 2,098 weekday passengers by 2024, according to a fact sheet from Metrolink, placing it among the five fastest-growing routes in the 547-mile system.
Perris South Station currently operates as a single-track terminal, which limits train movement and creates service bottlenecks. Granite’s goal is to turn the endpoint into a flexible, high-capacity hub to support bidirectional edge service.
Key aspects include:
- A second passenger boarding platform and more than 1,100 feet of new track to allow two trains to load and unload simultaneously while maintaining operations when a single train is out of service.
- Extension of the existing platform to accommodate eight-car Metrolink trains and improved canopies, electronic displays and emergency telephones.
- A new level crossing with active warning gates and flashing lights for safe pedestrian access to the second platform.
- An additional fourth scale track and new switching infrastructure, allowing more trains to be stored overnight and improving operational flexibility.
The project helps Granite, a company focused on road construction, expand its reach into the rail end market as well as projects in the Inland Empire region, according to the release. The company opened a new office in Ontario, Californialast year and recently completed Moreno Valley/March Field Metrolink Station widening 13 miles away, a project that was awarded in 2022 for $22 million.
“This project builds on our successful partnership with RCTC and Metrolink and leverages Granite’s core strengths in heavy civil construction and rail,” Bill Moore, Granite’s vice president of regional operations, said in the statement.
Construction on the Perris South project is expected to begin early next year, with completion expected in 2028.
