We took a little ride on the Metro from San Dimas to Glendora for lunch and a stroll through their downtown area. Being a weekday, there weren't a lot of other passengers either waiting at the station or riding in our car. This was our first journey on the rail A Line that now runs from Pomona to Long Beach.
The Glendora station area is neat and, being only a few months old, all the ticket machines are working and in good order. I mention this as I've read reviews where other Metro riders have had issues with buying or reloading fare (TAP) cards at other stations.
The passengers at this station enter and debark just south of the Glendora post office. From there, it's only a short walk east to Glendora Avenue and then north (two blocks?) to city hall and the downtown area full of shops and eating/drinking establishments.
Feeling mildly apprehensive after having heard some of the horror stories about public rail systems, I'm happy to report that my wife and I rode comfortably in a clean car and were not disturbed by the few other people (three?) on the train. I've had others observe that sitting in the front car (nearest the driver) is preferable for those wishing to avoid some of the more "colorful" characters that sometimes frequent the rail systems. We took this advice as a preventative measure with positive results.
We did have an exceptionally long wait for our return train with three trains pulling into Glendora heading toward Downtown L.A. by the time we boarded the next train back to San Dimas. Usually there are trains pulling into Glendora about every eight minutes or so, but there were some announcements about an elevator issue at Union Station (automated information boards were fairly accurate in keeping us updated on the delayed arrival time). Our wait was a little over 15-minutes.
We enjoyed our inaugural journey and are considering other excursions to neighboring cities along the line. It's inexpensive enough to ride (regular fares $1.75 one way/seniors .75) and a great option if your destination is nearby the station and you don't mind a little additional walking. read more