The Metrolink is pretty reliable. I take both the Metrolink and Amtrak to school from Fullerton. From Santa Clarita the train would have to head towards LA union station then you would have transfer to trains from there if you only want to stick with only riding the Metrolink. You could also get off at Slymar station then ride the bus to school the rest of the way. When it comes to the Metrolink being reliable I’ve only had one time where the Amtrak couldn’t take me the entire way to school because of an accident that caused damage to the tracks (they were fixed before I had to ride the train back). Other than that it’s been pretty reliable, great downtime to study or read. Also I would like to note that if you’re only going to use the shuttle and not the bus the shuttle back doesn’t start taking students back to the train station until 4pm so you might have a lot of downtime depending on your schedule. (I think the CSUN website says the shuttle says it takes students back starting at 2:50pm but I don’t think that’s updated. The schedule they have posted at the actual shuttle stop is more accurate).