The Desert Sun newspaper reports that the California State Transportation Agency granted $5.9 million to fund temporary Amtrak service to Indio, Calif., to benefit those attending the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Stagecoach country music festival. Film and TV news source Deadline Hollywood reports that an additional $2.7 million was awarded by Riverside County for the project. The funds will be used to build a temporary 900-foot passenger platform in Indio, with hopes of permanently establishing an Amtrak stop in the Coachella Valley.
The Desert Sun quotes Dana Reed, vice chair for the Los Angeles-San Diego-San Luis Obispo Rail Corridor Agency, as saying the project is the first step in establishing daily Amtrak service between L.A. and Orange County. The nearest Amtrak station to Indio is in Palm Springs.
According to Deadline Hollywood, as part of the plan, passengers would board Amtrak at Los Angeles Union Station and travel about two hours to Coachella Valley, where they would then board shuttle buses to the concert grounds. The publication reports that the goal is to have the platform constructed in time for the 2020 Coachella and Stagecoach festivals. The Stagecoach Festival drew about 75,000 people in 2018, while Coachella drew approximately 300,000 people during the festival’s three days.
