Train service planned for Coachella Valley music festivals

INDIO, Calif. – Transportation officials are working on using Amtrak train service to help alleviate notorious traffic heading to and from the annual Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals in the Southern California desert.

The Riverside County Transportation Commission says it has received funding for an $8.6 million temporary train platform at the city of Indio Transit Center, and it could be ready for the 2020 festivals.

The funding includes $5.9 million awarded by the state and an additional $2.7 contributed by the county agency.

Concert-goers would board special trains at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, travel about 130 miles (209 kilometres) east to the Coachella Valley and then take shuttles to the concert grounds.