The federal government had a simple message for Metrolink officials Tuesday: Don't come crying to us.

Reeling from increasing delays on the Los Angeles to Riverside commuter rail line, Metrolink officials asked a government panel in late July to pressure Union Pacific Railroad Co. for weekly reports on staffing and train delays and to increase spending on capital improvements.

Tuesday, the federal Surface Transportation Board -- which is overseeing Union Pacific's 2-year-old merger with Southern Pacific -- said no.

The board said Union Pacific's contract with Metrolink, allowing the commuter rail service to use the freight haulers' tracks, already gives Metrolink access to the information it wants. And if Metrolink wants to know how well trains are running, it should ask its own workers, the board said.

Or if Metrolink is unhappy, the board said, it can go to court to argue that the railroad is violating its contract.

Metrolink's request that Union Pacific upgrade signaling and track along the 59-mile route also was rejected.

The board said it had not "micro-managed the industry by telling carriers which projects to undertake. (Metrolink) has not demonstrated that we should do so now."

Union Pacific said the improvements that Metrolink wants are related to commuter service, rather than freight hauling, so it should not be forced to pay for them.

Despite the defeat, Metrolink officials said they would continue to fight to improve service.

"Apparently, Union Pacific has convinced (the board) all is well in Southern California," said Alex Clifford, chairman of the Southern California Regional Rail Authority, the agency that oversees Metrolink. "We will not just take this news and go away."

In addition to bringing the matter up again before the transportation board or going to court, the authority can also seek help from Congress, Clifford said.

"Union Pacific can rest assured we will not go away," he said.

Metrolink blames Union Pacific for delays that have angered its passengers as trains sit on the tracks for up to two hours.

This month, the Riverside-LA line is running about 80 percent on time, down from 87 percent in August and 81 percent in July. The authority's contract with Union Pacific calls for 90 percent on-time service.

"On the days when I ride and the train is late, I seethe with anger, too," Clifford said.

The railroad denies blame, telling the board that most of the time, it's Metrolink's fault that the trains are late.

"From our perspective, things are in pretty good shape down there," Union Pacific spokesman Mike Furtney said in San Francisco. "In July, all the incidents that they listed, the overwhelming number of them were their own problems."

Union Pacific said some problems were not its fault, including delays caused by track debris and by the fact that some trains are too long for Metrolink's stations, so they have to stop more than once to let off passengers.

Operations have improved, Furtney said, with fewer trains left in sidings or on the main line as crews end their workday. And coordination with Metrolink will improve with the railroad's decision to post a vice president in California.

The new Roseville-based vice president, Jeff Verhaal, will oversee railroad operations more closely than did officials in Omaha, Neb., he said.

Published 9/23/1998