Traffic into and out of Coachella and Stagecoach can be, and this is a technical term, super shitty – but, that may change in 2020 as officials have secured funding for a train that would shuttle fest goers to Indio from Los Angeles.
The Coachella Valley Special Event Train would offer two daily round-trips between Los Angeles Union Station and a temporary platform Indio. From there, concertgoers could take a shuttle to the Empire Polo Club.
The estimated cost for the project would be $8.7 – with $5.9 million coming from a grant from the State Rail Assistance Program, which is funded in part by the gas tax, according to a news release. The remaining amount would come from the Riverside County Transportation Commission.
The 10-car train would operate on Pacific Surfliner equipment, with each trip accommodating up to 750 passengers – with about 700 expected per trip.
No word if there would be some sort of special to shuttle locals not going to fest out to LA as those trains head back to pick up more people, but that could be a cool thing. Just sayin’.
If this all sounds familiar, there was a train that came to the festival in 2008, but there has not been one since.
