Metrolink will shut the Antelope Valley Line between Lancaster and Los Angeles Union Station on Saturday and Sunday, August 15 and 16, 2026. There will be no trains on that spine, and the agency says there will be no replacement buses either.
If that is your weekend commute, airport connection, or downtown trip, the rail option is gone. Move the trip, drive, or stay put.
- When: Saturday and Sunday, August 15 and 16, 2026.
- Where: Lancaster to Los Angeles Union Station, Antelope Valley Line.
- Trains: None. The whole segment is closed.
- Buses: None. Metrolink will not run a substitute.
- Why: Maintenance, rehabilitation, and rail replacement work.
What Metrolink published
The Metrolink upcoming advisories page is the official notice. It says crews will complete maintenance and rehabilitation projects along the Antelope Valley Line on August 15 and 16, 2026.
Those projects, the agency writes, will close the tracks between Lancaster and Los Angeles Union Station. Train service and alternate transportation will not be available between those two points.
That second sentence is the traveler decision.
This is not a thinned timetable. It is a dark weekend with no published bus bridge.
The same closure also appears on Metrolink’s live train map, which tells riders that AV Line trains will not operate between Lancaster and Los Angeles that Saturday and Sunday. The map and the advisory agree on the dates and the endpoints.
Metrolink’s own Facebook account adds one more operator fact: crews will conduct rail replacement work that weekend. Treat the advisory page as the binding closure. Treat the Facebook line as the agency’s description of the work, not as a new set of dates.
LA Metro’s Antelope Valley Line Improvements page explains why this corridor keeps drawing weekend outages. Metro and Metrolink are upgrading the line so commuter trains between downtown Los Angeles and Lancaster can run more often and in both directions. That program is the independent backdrop. It does not, by itself, list the August 15 and 16 hours.
Use Metro for the why and Metrolink for the dates.
Do not mix this with the San Clemente shutdown
Metrolink is already running a different closure this week. Orange County Line trains are suspended through San Clemente from August 10 through August 14 because of high tides, and those trains now start and end at Laguna Niguel / Mission Viejo with no alternate ride south of there.
Deep Arrival already covered that card as Metrolink Orange County Line Stops at Laguna Niguel Through August 14. That outage ends Friday. This Antelope Valley outage starts Saturday.
They share an operator and a calendar. They do not share a line, a cause, or a workaround. A rider who learned the San Clemente pattern cannot assume a Laguna Niguel style turnback exists on the Antelope Valley Line. Metrolink says the Lancaster to Union Station segment is closed, not shortened.
Pacific Surfliner is a third rail story this week. The operator’s September 19 and 20 Van Nuys to Los Angeles partial, which Deep Arrival published separately, is a later Amtrak weekend with a promised bus. It does not restore Metrolink on August 15 and 16.
Who cannot ride, and what they can do
Anyone whose ticket or usual habit uses the Antelope Valley Line between Lancaster and Union Station that weekend is inside the outage. That includes Palmdale, Acton, Santa Clarita, Sylmar, Burbank, and Glendale riders if their trip stays on this line into downtown.
The advisory does not publish a station-by-station exception list.
If your trip needs that steel, assume it is closed.
There is no Metrolink bus to catch. The agency says alternate transportation will not be available. Do not wait on the platform for a coach that the notice already ruled out.
Driving is the blunt substitute. The 14 and the 5 are the usual highway pair between the Antelope Valley and downtown, and they will be slower if every rail rider makes the same choice. Leave earlier than a train clock would have required, or do not make the trip.
If downtown Los Angeles is the destination rather than the train itself, Deep Arrival’s Los Angeles 3 day itinerary still maps the city. It does not create a rail seat. Build the weekend around a car, a later train on Monday, or a cancelled plan.
Amtrak Thruway buses and local transit such as Antelope Valley Transit Authority are separate systems. Metrolink’s notice does not assign those agencies to replace the AV Line. Check those operators on their own pages before you treat a local bus as a downtown substitute.
How to clear a ticket without guessing
If you already hold a weekend Metrolink ticket or a monthly pass you planned to burn on August 15 or 16, the pass does not create a train. A monthly pass is still useful on Monday. It is not a seat this Saturday.
Metrolink has not published a special refund window for this outage on the advisory page. If you bought a one-way or day ticket for those dates, contact the agency or your seller with the official advisory URL before you leave home. Do not treat a unused weekend ride as automatically refunded unless the agency says so in writing.
Employers and hotels that assumed a Union Station arrival should get the same notice. A 9 a.m. downtown start is not compatible with a closed rail spine unless the person is already driving.
A worked check looks like this. Write the date, the boarding station, and the arrival station. If both sit on the Antelope Valley Line between Lancaster and Union Station on August 15 or 16, cancel the rail plan. Recheck Monday service on Metrolink’s site before you assume the line is back.
Do not buy a nonrefundable airport ride that assumes a Union Station Metrolink arrival that weekend. There will be no train to miss, and no official bus to be late on.
What this does not change
This is not a weekday outage. Monday, August 17, is not listed on the advisory. Recheck that morning. Do not invent a third closed day.
This is not an Orange County Line story after Friday. The San Clemente high-tide suspension is a different notice with a Friday end date.
This is not a Pacific Surfliner September closure. Amtrak’s later Van Nuys weekend is a different operator and a different month.
Metrolink says the work is for long-term safety and reliability. That is the agency’s reason, not a promise that the next weekend will be clean. Watch the same advisory page if you ride this line often.
| If you | What to do |
|---|---|
| Need Lancaster to Union Station on Aug 15 or 16 | Do not go to a station. There is no train and no Metrolink bus. |
| Hold a monthly pass you planned to use this weekend | Keep the pass for Monday. It does not create a Saturday seat. |
| Are using the Orange County Line through Friday | That is a different closure. It ends August 14 at Laguna Niguel. |
| Need downtown Los Angeles anyway | Drive or skip. Do not wait for a substitute the agency already ruled out. |
| Ride this line only on weekdays | This notice is not your outage. Recheck Monday before you assume extra delays. |
- Cancel the rail plan: Do not travel to an AV Line station on August 15 or 16.
- Do not wait for a bus: Metrolink says no alternate transportation will run.
- Move or drive: Shift the trip to Friday or Monday, or take the 14 or the 5.
- Warn the other end: Tell hotels, employers, and pickups that Union Station rail is dark.
If you need the Antelope Valley Line this weekend, stay off the platform. There is no train and no official bus between Lancaster and Los Angeles Union Station on August 15 and 16.
Will Metrolink run from Lancaster on August 15 or 16?
No. Metrolink says the Antelope Valley Line is closed between Lancaster and Los Angeles Union Station both days.
Is there a replacement bus?
No. The official advisory says alternate transportation will not be available on that segment.
Is this the same as the San Clemente Metrolink closure?
No. The Orange County Line high-tide suspension runs August 10 to 14 and ends at Laguna Niguel. This is a different line and a different weekend.
Does service resume Monday, August 17?
The advisory lists only August 15 and 16. Recheck Metrolink Monday morning before you assume a normal commute.
