Metro will spend $750,000 to study the benefits of eliminating the Claremont Metrolink Station and replacing it with a light-rail station as part of the 12.3-mile extension of the foothill Gold Line.

With the Glendora-to-Montclair Gold Line extension getting underway in the next few months, last-minute changes are cropping up as scrutiny increases. Metro — which has allotted nearly $1.4 billion for the project and named it the first to receive funding from November’s Measure M transportation tax — wants the study to focus on the duplication of service in Pomona, Claremont and Montclair between the electric-powered light rail line and the existing diesel locomotive-driven Metrolink commuter rail.

Specifically, board members, led by Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, want to determine:

Whether commute times to Los Angeles will be shorter without a Metrolink stop in Claremont

What Claremont Metrolink riders think of boarding in Pomona or Montclair instead

And most importantly, the cost savings to the $1.5-billion light-rail project that keeps getting more expensive as ground-breaking nears

Current plans call for demolishing the Claremont station and rebuilding it closer to College Street to allow room for both train lines. Without rebuilding the Metrolink portion, the project cost could be lowered.

One reason for the study is to eliminate the project’s $300 million funding gap. Originally pegged at $249 million, the gap has grown as of Wednesday, when the Gold Line Construction Authority added two train bridges — one in Pomona and one in San Dimas — deemed necessary for safety reasons by the California Public Utilities Commission at a cost of $50 million.

The statement made by Metro board members Solis and Supervisor Kathryn Barger, along with Duarte Mayor John Fasana and Glendale Councilman Ara Najarian, asserts elimination of the station would reduce the cost of the Gold Line extension.

Sources close to the project said attempts to acquire the gap money from the state’s Cap and Trade program may not pan out. Also, money for the San Bernardino County portion from Claremont to Montclair is also short.

When Solis first proposed the study in a Metro committee on Sept. 20, many Claremont residents and riders of Metrolink were outraged. The City Council members were flooded with calls from angry residents. Comments left on a local newspaper’s website blasted the idea. “Maybe Hilda Solis should be eliminated,” wrote one reader.

Solis was criticized by members of the City Council for not informing the city of such a motion.

On Friday, she changed the study to include input from the city of Claremont. Also, the study will determine “the formal process by which to eliminate a Metrolink station.” Added at the last minute was the phrase, “should that local station city agree.”

“I think she heard the community loud and clear: They want the city to be involved in that decision making,” said Claremont City Councilman Sam Pedroza, who sits on the Gold Line Construction Authority governing board. “She also modified it to look more at the pros and cons (of eliminating the station),” he said.

Claremont Mayor Larry Schroeder and Councilman Corey Calaycay both testified before the board that they’d like to see the Metrolink station stay. But both supported the revised study.

“Our community worked hard to get our Metrolink station. Having both systems allows our residents to connect to both Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles,” Schroeder said. “Any consideration to eliminate the station must not be taken lightly.”

Calaycay wanted to see Metrolink improve its service by offering faster and less-polluting trains. “We’d rather they spend the money and pursue that rather than closing stations,” he said during an interview.

As long as a decision is reached in two to three months, Gold Line engineers can incorporate changes into a procurement contract set to be awarded next spring.

“We need to know that information as soon as possible,” Gold Line Construction Authority Chairman Doug Tessitor told the Metro board.

While Metrolink and the Gold Line Construction Authority have been at odds, Metro CEO Phil Washington said he was bringing the two sides together and reaching consensus, even.if it takes the two CEOs meeting every week until the project is completed in early 2026, he said.

“Our primary objective is to keep the Gold Line Foothill extension on schedule,” Washington said.